Certifying Marriage Cert?

Skint_Catt

Hi,

The institution that holds my ISA require a certified copy of my marriage certificate to change my name on my account (I am unable to make a withdrawal until I do this!!). I refuse to pay for this (solicitor or P.O.) as I've already sent them 2 copies & after failing to do it over the past 2 years, they suddenly are asking for it to be certified.

I know a police officer who may do this for me, but what needs to be written on the copy?

Thanks, C xx

xylophone

I know a police officer who may do this for me, but what needs to be written on the copy?

http://www.coventrybuildingsociety.co.uk/savings-and-investments/identification.aspx

"Who can certify documents?
Copies of original documents can only be certified by one of the following: solicitor, teacher, engineer, accountant, surveyor, police officer (serving or retired), bank or building society manager, minister of religion, Justice of the Peace, independent financial advisor, post office official (postmaster/sub-postmaster), doctor, fire service official, officer of the armed services (serving or retired), nurse, dentist, chemist, optician, civil servant.

Copies of your original documents should be certified using the following words - 'I confirm that I have seen the original document'. The certifier must sign their name and include the following details - full name, profession, company address, phone number and date."

Skint_Catt

Lol, brilliant, thank you - I googled lots of websites & none sounded quite right! I obviously need to hone my searching skills.
C xx

ChiefGrasscutter

That's interesting
The Coventry list is the same one that can certify passport photos.
A much increased number of professions - and it includes me as a chartered Engineer.

Most financial groups I've dealt with to date will only accept a countersignature from someone who is already employed in the financial services industry and therefore will have a FSA authorisation number which they can quote alongside their signature/adress etc - which gives the savings groups "traceability" on the author of the countersignature.
This is why solicitors are usually accepted as since they handle client money they would have to be FSA authorised. The PO has usually (not always) been rejected as the individual counter clerk who does the signing is not themselves FSA authorised even if the PO as an organisation is.

Skint_Catt

This is what this particulr institution states, but I just didn't know what my friend needed to write.

Where a certified copy is provided it must be certified by either a member of Bank staff or an
appropriate professional i.e. Qualified Accountant, Lawyer, Banker, Solicitor, Police Officer,
Minister of Religion etc....the certifier must provide name, address and signature.

atypical

Standard wording is normally "I certify this to be a true copy of the original". Doesn't make much difference I guess.

dzug1

atypical wrote: »

Standard wording is normally "I certify this to be a true copy of the original". Doesn't make much difference I guess.

It can make a lot of difference. Some organisations won't accept it unless it contains words such as 'original sighted'

Aegis

It might be worth noting that marriage, death and birth certificates are covered under Crown Copyright and they aren't supposed to be photocopied and certified. As a result, a professional may either refuse to do so or have their copy rejected by the company.

The "original" certificate in your possession is already a certified copy of the marriage register, so the company may be asking for that.

It might be worth calling them to check precisely what they require and who needs to sign what. You might also get a bit of extra leeway if you tell them that it is technically illegal to copy a marriage certificate!

Lois_and_CK

Aegis wrote: »

The "original" certificate in your possession is already a certified copy of the marriage register, so the company may be asking for that.

It might be worth calling them to check precisely what they require and who needs to sign what. You might also get a bit of extra leeway if you tell them that it is technically illegal to copy a marriage certificate!

Yes that's what I had to provide when I changed my name after marriage - the original certificate, not a copy. Aegis is right, the original is already certified. It's a pain because you need to send it secure post, and also pay for them to return it to you securely as well. :mad:

dzug1

Aegis wrote: »

It might be worth noting that marriage, death and birth certificates are covered under Crown Copyright and they aren't supposed to be photocopied and certified. As a result, a professional may either refuse to do so or have their copy rejected by the company.

!

They may be crown copyright - but that doesn't mean that they cannot be photocopied and certified. The owner of the copyright can give permission - express or implied - for that to happen. And given the scale on which such an activity goes on and the lack of the slightest attempt to prevent it I am sure that implied permission exists.

Those organisations that insist on seeing an original are worried about the risk of forgery - even if certified. I'm sure they photocopy it for their own records before returning it.

Aegis

dzug1 wrote: »

They may be crown copyright - but that doesn't mean that they cannot be photocopied and certified. The owner of the copyright can give permission - express or implied - for that to happen. And given the scale on which such an activity goes on and the lack of the slightest attempt to prevent it I am sure that implied permission exists.

Those organisations that insist on seeing an original are worried about the risk of forgery - even if certified. I'm sure they photocopy it for their own records before returning it.

A certified copy of a marriage certificate is, technically speaking, invalid. A lot of providers therefore refuse to accept them. They can copy what they physically have in front of them for their future reference and can supplement it with a standard verification certificate if necessary, but the guidelines for birth, marriage and death certificates is that a certified copy of them must not be used to verify the authenticity of such an event.

This is why I said it would be worth checking. It's done in a lot of places, but a number of providers will reject a certified copy immediately because of these issues.