Multiple bank statements

RG2015

This enquiry is academic and therefore has no specific context.

If I was asked to provide bank statements for the last five years by an official body, eg govt. or solicitor, how would they know that I had included all of my accounts?

eskbanker

I don't see how they could verify that and would imagine they'd cover themselves by expecting you to declare that you'd supplied the whole picture, although this would presumably depend on context - if applying for a mortgage or a divorce, for example, you'd be expected to make full financial disclosure, and would be committing an offence if knowingly failing to divulge something relevant to the enquiry.

As you know from other threads, HMRC will assemble (part of!) a picture from bank records and another thread on here today has touched on potential data sharing between government departments, so it would be a dangerous game to play not to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth (not that you were suggesting this) in a formal situation....

RG2015

Thanks @eskbanker, and yes, it was that thread that prompted my enquiry although watching police fiction they always "check the bank account" for evidence of (illicit) money movements.

You didn't mention Credit Reporting Agencies but that would not work in my case since my main bank account is too old to be included.

As another example, my daughter had a car insurance claim last year and the insurance company's recommended solicitor suggested she provided her bank statement to prove her lack of funds. I cannot see how that would prove anything. But it does confirm my opinion that solicitors have very strange ideas a lot of the time.

eskbanker

RG2015 said:

Thanks @eskbanker, and yes, it was that thread that prompted my enquiry although watching police fiction they always "check the bank account" for evidence of (illicit) money movements.

I was sadly thinking something similar when watching 'Line of Duty' on Saturday night, and imagine that police access to financial records for crime prevention or investigation, when there are reasonable grounds for suspicion, would be wider than those generally available to civilians, but have no idea exactly how the mechanics of that work.

RG2015 said:

You didn't mention Credit Reporting Agencies but that would not work in my case since my main bank account is too old to be included.

Yes, CRAs don't seem to be reliable or comprehensive enough, although could perhaps contribute to collating an overall picture in some circumstances - I suspect that there is a great deal of collation from disparate sources needed when someone is trying to build up a comprehensive picture, so CRAs should record most cards, regulated loans, etc, but not necessarily all bank accounts, and no savings accounts, for example....

RG2015 said:

As another example, my daughter had a car insurance claim last year and the insurance company's recommended solicitor suggested she provided her bank statement to prove her lack of funds. I cannot see how that would prove anything. But it does confirm my opinion that solicitors have very strange ideas a lot of the time.

Agreed - I'd have thought that solicitors should be familiar with the concept of not being able to prove a negative though!