Data Recovery Application Form

Please complete the following form when requesting data recovery services. Read the points below first — they set out how the process works and what affects the outcome.

Data recovery service terms are set out in full on our service terms page.

Important information regarding your data recovery

1. Handling of external drive casings

To access the internal components of external hard drives and USB sticks, we must remove their outer plastic casing or caddy. This process often requires breaking the plastic clips holding the housing together, which can cause permanent cosmetic damage to the case. This is standard industry practice and does not harm the internal drive or your data.

As these damaged housings are typically disposed of, please remove the casing yourself before submitting the drive if you wish to keep it.

2. The nature of data recovery

Data recovery is not a drive repair service; a failed drive cannot be fixed for future use. The recovery process is a delicate, one-time procedure. The first attempt is critical, as a failing drive deteriorates with each use, and subsequent attempts can render the data permanently unrecoverable.

3. Prior recovery attempts

The chance of a successful recovery is significantly reduced if:

• The drive has been opened outside a certified cleanroom environment, or by anyone without specialist data recovery experience — most general IT companies are not equipped for this.
• Software-based recovery tools have been used on the drive. These programs cause excessive stress on an already failing device, often leading to rapid and irreversible further damage.

4. Service and pricing

The cost of recovery is determined by several factors, including the drive's capacity, the extent of the damage, and the difficulty in sourcing replacement components. For physically damaged drives, the complexity of the repair dictates the price, not the number of files; recovering one file often costs the same as recovering 200,000.

Exception: drives containing more than 500,000 files may incur an additional fee due to the extensive time required for data transfer. Please notify us if you believe this applies to your drive. If it is only discovered during the recovery, this fee will be added to the final invoice.

5. Data privacy and security

Your data is kept secure and confidential at all times. Once you receive your recovered data, it is permanently deleted from our servers within 48 hours, so please create a new backup of the recovered data immediately. All hard drives can fail, regardless of their age. We comply with the highest security standards and practices.

6. Communication and updates

We provide updates throughout the recovery process primarily via WhatsApp. If you have not heard from us within a few working days, please call to ensure we have your correct contact details.

7. Invoicing

Once this form is completed, an invoice will be emailed to you within one working day. Please check both your inbox and your spam or junk folder for this email.

Once you have submitted this form, it is important that you notify us to enable processing of the application.