Bank/ building society statements account information to Lawyers / Solicitors

Abzinthe

Hi If I give my Solicitor bank statements with account number and Sort codes and other information in those usual statements. Is it usually safe ?
I was told by a friend to blank out the account number etc 
but would the lawyers not need that information to do their checks like money laundering etc?

Mark_d

Assuming your solicitor is properly qualified and regulated, then I would trust them with any information they ask for.  In this case I would sent them the unaltered bank statements.

Abzinthe

Mark_d said:

Assuming your solicitor is properly qualified and regulated, then I would trust them with any information they ask for.  In this case I would sent them the unaltered bank statements.

 Guess credit cards/debit cards and cheque books all that info on anyway so guess same applies, more information is needed to retrieve the funds.

Mark_d

Whilst the solicitor can be trusted I'd recommend that you share the data securely.  Secure website upload, Royal Mail Special Delivery etc.  I wouldn't use regular email

eddddy

Abzinthe said:

I was told by a friend to blank out the account number etc 

Account numbers and sort codes don't really need to be kept confidential.

If there is any money to come back to you after completion, you might give your account numbers and sort code to your solicitor to send the payment -  so they'll find out anyway.

And similarly, your solicitor has probably told you their account number and sort code so you can send money to them.  So they're not too worried about people knowing that info.

ManuelG

Mark_d said:

Whilst the solicitor can be trusted I'd recommend that you share the data securely.  Secure website upload, Royal Mail Special Delivery etc.  I wouldn't use regular email

As a small aside, my broker had no end of trouble with me encrypting the info and sending instructions on how to open it. I was a bit surprised as surely I'm not the only one to do it that way?!?

It ended up with me having to drive to his house every month with statements!

Surprised me how lax in data protection these professionals were tbh.

propertyrental

Remember cheques?

People used to (a few still do) hand them out to Tom !!!!!! and Mary, and the sort code/account number is printed on them.

DullGreyGuy

Abzinthe said:

Hi If I give my Solicitor bank statements with account number and Sort codes and other information in those usual statements. Is it usually safe ?
I was told by a friend to blank out the account number etc 
but would the lawyers not need that information to do their checks like money laundering etc?

Every cheque you ever wrote and gave to someone had your SC/Account number on it.

Each time you put half of debit cards into an old click/clack machine the carbon paper would pickup your SC/Account number thats embossed on the front of many cards. 

If you don't trust your lawyers to keep your account details safe why the hell are you using them?


Realistically all they can do with your account details is setup a DD and because DDs are so easy to set up is why we have the DD guarantee meaning you can instantly cancel it and guaranteed to get the funds back immediately. 

I wouldn't go as far as Jeremy Clarkson who gave out his details on air, which resulted in a £500 DD to a charity being setup, but giving it to businesses you are happy to trust to buy products/services from is fine. 

user1977

Consider how many thousands of people work at your bank, and (presumably) have full access to all your details.

What difference in risk is it going to make if a few additional people in another highly regulated sector see your statements?