Certifying ID docs for a bank

Cloth_of_Gold

I had a Barclays business account in my name for an association that I am involved with. The account wasn't used for some time and so the bank closed it. In order for them to send me the funds that were in the account I have to send, among other things, certified copies of two pieces of ID. It says these can be certified by a professional such as a solicitor or an accountant or by a member of Barclays branch staff. 

A friend of mine who is dealing with her late father's estate was askedWhen my friend went to a branch the staff initially said they didn't certify documents but did eventually relent, but reluctantly as a 'one-off' even though my friend showed them the letter from another part of Barclays saying the ID had to be certified by a branch.

I could get a solicitor or accountant to do it but I imagine that would cost me £50 at least, which I don't want to pay, especially as it's not my own money I will be recovering. Does anyone know if my friend's experience was unusual or do Barclays branches normally certify documents if it has been requested by another part of their company? 

Alos, does the certifyer have to make the copies or can you take in copies youself for them to certify?

flaneurs_lobster

Do they allow document copies certified by the Post Office? Their fee is £12.75 for 1-3 documents.

43722

some solicitors will do this for £5-£10, it might be worth ringing a couple

flaneurs_lobster

43722 said:

some solicitors will do this for £5-£10, it might be worth ringing a couple

Really? I thought the days of Tenner in Cash for an Affidavit (or similar) were long gone.

Even my GP charges £30 for doc ids these days.  

Cloth_of_Gold

They didn't mention the post office on their list of acceptable certifyers. I will try and ring the relevant department tomorrow as going to the PO would be the easiest and £12.75 is fine. 

I would be amazed if a solicitor would do it as cheaply as that. I recently had a quote from a non-London solicitor to provide some advice and his rate is £330 ph +VAT. Even though certifying the docs won't take long to do and presumably is done by an assistant anyway I expect they would charge much more than a tenner. 

If they won't accept the PO's certification I'll try to go into a Barclays branch tommorow and ask if they will do it as I shall be near one. There is usually a massive queue though and I shall have an elderly person with me in the car and he won't want to sit in the car for too long. If it is all too difficult to get it done by Barclays (which I suspect it will be knowing how the world is these days) I shall just have to fork out for a solicitor, annoying as it is.

spenderdave

Only copies need certifying. If you are happy to send originals (usually not a problem with things like utility bills) then send those. When I had to do this a while ago I took a risk and sent my driving licence through the post - not driving at the moment so could do that. No issues, accepted and promptly returned and saved the hassle and expense of getting copies signed.
Years ago you could get your local church minister to sign them for free but they seem to have removed 'ministers of religion' from the list these days.

flaneurs_lobster

Cloth_of_Gold said:

They didn't mention the post office on their list of acceptable certifyers. I will try and ring the relevant department tomorrow as going to the PO would be the easiest and £12.75 is fine. 

Just to clarify, check that the PO branch you want to use offers the service, not all do.

x44

Chartered accountants might be cheaper

A year or so back I got  passport plus bill certifying for about £30 by one

Mind you this was "in the sticks" ie countryside/small town not a city!

C.acountants are uusally approved by bank's etc as they have a registered FSA/FCA number and offical stamp as they are handling finances and can easily be traced back through their authorisation number as to their signing should the authorities come calling about the certifying.

Some financial goups will accept the Post offices services but many will not as the counter clerk doing the signing are not themselves personally authoristed by the FSA with a personal FSA "number".

...and no us Chartered Engineers even with our engineering council number are not accepted either!

ColdIron

x44 said:

Some financial goups will accept the Post offices services but many will not as the counter clerk doing the signing are not themselves personally authoristed by the FSA with a personal FSA "number".

The Food Standards Agency don't authorise anything, perhaps you mean the FCA, the Financial Conduct Authority

The Post Office just certifies that the copy document is a true likeness to the original, no authorisation number required. Same with Doctors, solicitors etc who have not been "personally authoristed by the FSA with a personal FSA "number" or any other number

The last time I used my Doctor (£33) they just stamped it with the surgery name and address and signed it

When I tried Barclays many years ago they just said they no longer provide that service

ColdIron

spenderdave said:

Years ago you could get your local church minister to sign them for free but they seem to have removed 'ministers of religion' from the list these days.

Still on the list at .gov.uk. Of course not everybody may accept it

https://www.gov.uk/certifying-a-document

MyRealNameToo

Cloth_of_Gold said:

I had a Barclays business account in my name for an association that I am involved with. The account wasn't used for some time and so the bank closed it. In order for them to send me the funds that were in the account I have to send, among other things, certified copies of two pieces of ID. It says these can be certified by a professional such as a solicitor or an accountant or by a member of Barclays branch staff. 

A friend of mine who is dealing with her late father's estate was askedWhen my friend went to a branch the staff initially said they didn't certify documents but did eventually relent, but reluctantly as a 'one-off' even though my friend showed them the letter from another part of Barclays saying the ID had to be certified by a branch.

I could get a solicitor or accountant to do it but I imagine that would cost me £50 at least, which I don't want to pay, especially as it's not my own money I will be recovering. Does anyone know if my friend's experience was unusual or do Barclays branches normally certify documents if it has been requested by another part of their company? 

Alos, does the certifyer have to make the copies or can you take in copies youself for them to certify?

I think the Barclays staff are getting confused... they won't certify docs for you to use for other purposes, like apply for a passport etc, but should and do self certify docs for themselves. 

flaneurs_lobster said:

43722 said:

some solicitors will do this for £5-£10, it might be worth ringing a couple

Really? I thought the days of Tenner in Cash for an Affidavit (or similar) were long gone.

Even my GP charges £30 for doc ids these days.  

For an actual oath the statutory fee is fixed at £5 and £2 per exhibit however most also charge for an appointment plus some will try and upsell you on giving advice on the matter. When I needed an affidavit done to claim Irish citizenship was originally given some large quote but pointed out I didnt need advice on what I was swearing as its what the Irish government requires and so either I do it as is or I dont become Irish. As it was a commissioner of oaths the statutory fee was £10 which was much better than the £950 they'd originally quoted. No additional fee with the firm I used but they encouraged a donation to Médecins Sans Frontières who was their charity of the year.