Sending original proof of ID documents in the post

susiejq

My father has recently died and in order for my mother to receive extremely small spouse's pensions we are required to send, in the post, her original birth certificate and marriage certificate. This is to two separate huge pension companies.

We also have to send his original will, or pay for a certified copy, to claim back his premium bond money.

I know I can send them by recorded or special delivery and they will return them the same way but the whole thing is freaking her out. Not least because she had been married for 65yrs and her marriage certificate is very precious to her.

It does seem madness that such precious things have to be sent away with no cast iron guarantee that they won't get lost in the post or misplaced on arrival in some huge office. I'm feeling very stressed about the whole thing and at a time when we are all totally devastated by the loss of my dad.

I just wish there was another way.:mad:

LadyDee

Will they accept notarised copies?

When my brother died my sister-in-law had to provide notarised copies of certain documents to various previous employers, pension people, financial bodies etc. and I remember her telling me what it had cost for all the copies (luckily she has a solicitor in the family who was able to attest to the authenticity of the copies), she never had to provide the originals to anybody.
A lot of people wouldn't be able to even find the originals and would have to get official copies of such documents anyway.

theonlywayisup

Have you asked if you can send a certified copy? If you send the originals, ensure you use Special Delivery and ensure you are adequately covered in the event of loss - you may wish to add consequential loss cover to them.

Le_Kirk

NS&I will accept a registrars copy of the death certificate (it's normal to get up to 10 of these when registering death) and a notarised copy of will or a photocopy signed by a solicitor.

[Deleted User]

All certificates are just a certified copy of an entry into the registrar. Order new ones they are original!

meer53

They're pieces of paper that can be replaced, just send them via recorded delivery or courier if you're that worried !

custardy

susiejq wrote: »

My father has recently died and in order for my mother to receive extremely small spouse's pensions we are required to send, in the post, her original birth certificate and marriage certificate. This is to two separate huge pension companies.

We also have to send his original will, or pay for a certified copy, to claim back his premium bond money.

I know I can send them by recorded or special delivery and they will return them the same way but the whole thing is freaking her out. Not least because she had been married for 65yrs and her marriage certificate is very precious to her.

It does seem madness that such precious things have to be sent away with no cast iron guarantee that they won't get lost in the post or misplaced on arrival in some huge office. I'm feeling very stressed about the whole thing and at a time when we are all totally devastated by the loss of my dad.

I just wish there was another way.:mad:

Not 'or'.
Signed for and Special delivery are not interchangeable.
Signed for is for pure proof of delivery.
Special delivery is for valuables and can cover up to £2.5K plus consequential loss.

meer53 wrote: »

They're pieces of paper that can be replaced, just send them via recorded delivery or courier if you're that worried !

See above

peachyprice

She can order several copes of each on the .gov.uk website.

When they say original the mean not a photocopy, they don't mean you have to send the one that was issued at the time of birth/marriage/death.