Solicitor ID Documents by post?

Pat38493

My solicitor for a house sale/purchase requires proof of identity with various documents.

In their letter it says that the documents must have been sent to be by post.  Documents downloaded from online backing etc are not enough.

As far as I know, there is no difference between the bank statements I download from my online backing site, and the ones sent by post, so how is the solicitor going to know whether they were sent by post or not unless he sits outside my house waiting for the postie to arrive?

user1977

They won't, obviously. But it may be different for other banks (where the postal statements are on the bank's own stationery) and other types of ID document.

PRAISETHESUN

It's a bit of a silly catch 22 situation. Many banks are encouraging/requiring people to sign up for digital statements, but then at the same time will only accept hard copy statements for ID purposes. Last time I needed an actual bank statement, I went into my local branch, asked them to print off a copy of the statements required, and then stamp them as authentic. A bit of a pain, but was easy enough to do. Alternatively, many banks will allow you to request duplicate statements by mail - usually it's free if you've never had a physical copy of that statement before, but sometimes there's a fee involved.

marcia_

 Are you sure he doesn't want them certified? I just had to go the post office to get documents certified for my solicitor. Thats after waiting for the bank to mail a statement out 

theartfullodger

Post for documents that matter?  No way, I'd drive there and back not letting the documents out of my sight.

(And anyway taking electronic copies...)

AskAsk

bank statements that are sent by post will look different to the ones that are downloaded online as it will be on the bank's paper and that will be different to the printer paper that you have at home.

also bank statements may be in colour when they send through the post whereas the downloaded ones are black and white.

i have done many property transactions and online statements are always accepted these days so I am surprised to hear you say this as banks have stopped sending out paper statements these days.

you could send in the downloaded statements and see if they come back with enquiries.  it could be that their request letter is outdated and hasn't been updated for the modern era!

other documents, like passport and driving licence, get a certified copy rather than send the original.

35har1old

theartfullodger said:

Post for documents that matter?  No way, I'd drive there and back not letting the documents out of my sight.

(And anyway taking electronic copies...)

OP wasn't going to post them the solicitor was asking for statements that where posted by the bank to the OP and not  downloaded from the internet

35har1old

AskAsk said:

bank statements that are sent by post will look different to the ones that are downloaded online as it will be on the bank's paper and that will be different to the printer paper that you have at home.

also bank statements may be in colour when they send through the post whereas the downloaded ones are black and white.

i have done many property transactions and online statements are always accepted these days so I am surprised to hear you say this as banks have stopped sending out paper statements these days.

you could send in the downloaded statements and see if they come back with enquiries.  it could be that their request letter is outdated and hasn't been updated for the modern era!

other documents, like passport and driving licence, get a certified copy rather than send the original.

For example if you print a Halifax statement  it is in colour but the problem is
It's not in the same format as the posted statement as the 1st and 2nd pages the first page contains your name and address and the second page is filled with further information 

EssexHebridean

I’m afraid it is correct that solicitors cannot accept  statements produced from online banking for ID/AML purposes. The best bet is to simply use a different form of of address document - for example passport for ID, then use your driving licence and council tax bill as proof of address. At certain times of year a lot of people get things like their water bill in hard copy form - or documents from HMRC - those are good for three months from the date on the document, while a council tax bill can be accepted for a full 12 months. 

As always said, your bank should be able to produce and stamp a statement as authentic. 

Pat38493

EssexHebridean said:

I’m afraid it is correct that solicitors cannot accept  statements produced from online banking for ID/AML purposes. The best bet is to simply use a different form of of address document - for example passport for ID, then use your driving licence and council tax bill as proof of address. At certain times of year a lot of people get things like their water bill in hard copy form - or documents from HMRC - those are good for three months from the date on the document, while a council tax bill can be accepted for a full 12 months. 

As always said, your bank should be able to produce and stamp a statement as authentic. 

OK, but I am wondering how they enforce this?  Is there some kind of secret watermark on the statements that are sent through the post, or do they call the bank and ask them to confirm that they sent it by post?

I also found one link that claimed that if the solicitor actually observed you logging in to your online bank and downloading the statement, they could then certify the statement themselves as legal but I’m not sure if that’s true as it was only on one particular page.

In any case I called them and they said that I can use my passport and driving license together as the 2 things that they need (address is on driving license).

(Wait till they find out that my middle name is on my driving licence but not my passport - no idea why it’s just always been like that!)

Life is sometimes. Like Monty Python - I have known this solicitor for about 12 years and he knows exactly who I am, but yes I know they are legally obliged to follow the procedure.

AskAsk

Pat38493 said:

EssexHebridean said:

I’m afraid it is correct that solicitors cannot accept  statements produced from online banking for ID/AML purposes. The best bet is to simply use a different form of of address document - for example passport for ID, then use your driving licence and council tax bill as proof of address. At certain times of year a lot of people get things like their water bill in hard copy form - or documents from HMRC - those are good for three months from the date on the document, while a council tax bill can be accepted for a full 12 months. 

As always said, your bank should be able to produce and stamp a statement as authentic. 

OK, but I am wondering how they enforce this?  Is there some kind of secret watermark on the statements that are sent through the post, or do they call the bank and ask them to confirm that they sent it by post?

I also found one link that claimed that if the solicitor actually observed you logging in to your online bank and downloading the statement, they could then certify the statement themselves as legal but I’m not sure if that’s true as it was only on one particular page.

In any case I called them and they said that I can use my passport and driving license together as the 2 things that they need (address is on driving license).

(Wait till they find out that my middle name is on my driving licence but not my passport - no idea why it’s just always been like that!)

Life is sometimes. Like Monty Python - I have known this solicitor for about 12 years and he knows exactly who I am, but yes I know they are legally obliged to follow the procedure.

solicitors do hundreds and thousands of these transactions so they will be familiar with posted bank statements so they will know if it is genuine or not.

it's like cashiers at the bank will be able to spot fake notes better than anyone else.