Has anyone received this letter from First Direct...

firsttimemover

...asking to resend certified proof of ID, AGAIN?

I've been a customer for about 2 years now and I have just received a letter saying that they require me to send proof of ID again (2 forms), and it has to be certified.

They had these when I opened my accounts. I had to pay for the pleasure of it at the Post Office. I don't want to be doing that again. In fact, they have had it before that, as I had an account previously that I closed, and I also have an HSBC account, so it is more than a little frustrating.

Admittedly, the list of who can certify is longer than previously, but I don't know anyone in these professions who could do it who isn't a family member.

I've got money in a regular saver with them, so don't want them to close my account, so it seems they have me over a barrel to pay to get this done again (eating into the interest I'm earning!) plus the hassle of doing it.

The letter sounds quite generic, so I'm just wondering if many other people are in the same boat, or if it is just an anomaly on my account.

I'm going to phone them in a bit to see if they can reimburse for getting this done, but it would be good to know if there are others in the same situation too.

oldagetraveller

Would a HSBC branch do it for you at no charge because you have an account with them and FD are part of HSBC?

mgdavid

firsttimemover wrote: »

........asking to resend certified proof of ID, AGAIN?......... The letter sounds quite generic, so I'm just wondering if many other people are in the same boat, or if it is just an anomaly on my account.

No, I opened FD accounts 2 years ago, all online, have never been asked to produce or verify ID at all. It must be something personal to you - have you moved around a lot, changed your name, are you not on the electoral roll, etc ?

firsttimemover wrote: »

I'm going to phone them in a bit to see if they can reimburse for getting this done, .....

Sorry but I think that is a waste of your and their time. Maybe better to ask if you can produce ID at an HSBC branch. (passport, local council bill etc)

firsttimemover

I haven't changed my name since the account was opened - it was opened with my married name with all my ID in this name.

I've moved house once, but my address was promptly updated online (I can't remember if I had to send proof or not, but it was changed by whatever process is standard for them) and I have always been on the electoral roll. I was at my previous address over 5 years, so hardly moving around a lot.

I'd love to think that they would let me go into an HSBC branch, but personal experience and the experience of others on here has always indicated that this has never been an option for FD.

I will give them a call and see what they say. I've never heard of anyone having to do this before, and typical that it would be FD who are notoriously difficult for accepting ID. Everyone else accepts a photocopy straight off, or worse case scenario, pop into branch...

firsttimemover

oldagetraveller wrote: »

Would a HSBC branch do it for you at no charge because you have an account with them and FD are part of HSBC?

And "Banker" isn't on the list of their accepted professions either. Lloyds have done it for me in the past FOC but by the sounds of it this won't be acceptable for FD

firsttimemover

For anyone else who has had this letter, I have just phoned up and talked through the options with them, and although they said they don't usually allow you to take documents into HSBC she spoke with her manager and they have arranged for me to go into my local branch for them to scan and pass on the documents. They have had to send details across to my branch to specify when I will be going and instructions on what to do, so it doesn't sound like standard procedure. But worth a try if you're in the same boat.

And for anyone else who hasn't received the letter - they have a dedicated team set up to deal with this, and it has arisen because they didn't used to keep the copies of the documents we sent, but now legislation has changed, they need them on file. So it definitely sounds like a widespread issue that is going to affect many people that applied before a certain time. As they had my documents in Jan 2012, it sounds like it is only not going to affect those that have applied very recently.

oldagetraveller

Common sense reluctantly prevails from FD!
Maybe FD don't trust bankers?:p

mgdavid

Result! Glad that approach worked.