New account - certified by lawyer?

roundbrilliant

Hi all,

So I am trying to get my finances in order and the first thing I want to do is to set up the First Direct bank account, transfer over to hat for my day to day and then pay off my current overdraft with natwest before closing the natwest account as soon as is possible.

I have applied for the first direct account and have been asked to provide a copy of ID which is certified by a lawyer or attorney.


Does anyone know why I have been asked for this and how I would go about getting it? Sounds expensive!

Thanks,

RB

innovate

They were probably unable to find you on the Electoral Roll, and/or they couldn't find you with exactly the same name and address on any Credit Agency records they use. Generally worth checking that your records are in order, though this would probably not help you much with your FD application now because they have gone past this step already.

Getting your ID certified is easy.

You can generally walk into any high street solicitors office with your passport or driving licence, and ask them to certify a copy of it for you. Probably costs £15-£20. The Post Office also provides an ID certification service, for probably half you'd pay a solicitor - - ask FD whether they accept that as well.

InsideInsurance

Are you sure they used american terms? A solicitor who is a notary has a fixed fee per certified document. I cant remember what it is exactly but it is something like £6 per thing to be certified - I had to get docs done for my irish passport application and was surprised how cheap it was.

Check with them but normally you can also go into a HSBC branch and get them to do it.