advertisement


Identity checks - still in the stone age ?

zippy

pfm Member
I have just had to 'prove my identity' to the estate agents I'm dealing with. No problem ? Big problem !
for a start I'm told any utility bill with my name and address on it will be OK, but... it has to be less than 3 months old (most utilities only send a statement once a year, if at all) . Almost all my utility companies/banks/etc are now 100% paperless, but it has to be an original document so going into my EON account and printing one from there isn't valid. I was originally told that I'd have to physically take my documents to their office but I managed to persuade them out of that as the agents are 300 miles away!

All the above was in addition to a passport check but luckily I happen to have a 'solicitor endorsed' photocopy to send to them.

Please let's come out of the stone age and make life easier for all of us...
 
Some London solicitors charge a ridiculous amount for certifying docs. £30 etc.
A cheaper alternative is to do the ID check at your local post office. Little known service.
 
Completely agree, I had to go through all these hoops when selling my parents house last year, such a pain.

Particularly galling when you hear of house selling frauds carried out by people posing as the owner and not being checked out by government agencies.
 
Had loads of this plus identifying source of funds on purchases; last one is from my letting agent and i'm stuck on proof of ownership on a house as i've owned it too long so it's not registered.

All seems a bit excessive.
 
Woman at the Post Office a few days ago was getting quite irate on being told she couldn't countersign a photo for her son's passport.

"But of course I know it's him! HE's MY SON!'
"Er, yes but...."

:D
 
A lot of it is meaningless gestures.
I gave my daughter some dosh towards her flat purchase.
I had to provide proof of source of funds.
I furnished a copy of my ISA.
Now the obvious next question if they were serious, which never came, would have been how did I fund the ISA.
My cannabis farm is safe…
 
Money laundering is a scourge, it enables all sorts of crime, especially financial crime like fraud, or trafficking. The ID checks are to help reduce the effectiveness of money laundering, and while they could be improved, we do need measures to detect and deter it. So the hassles do have a vital underlying purpose. I’d agree, though, that we can and should do it better.
 
My top tip today is to always have a valid passport, even if you don’t intend to travel. The renewal cost is small potatoes compared to the aggro you can face when ID is required. A driving license can be taken away, I doubt any fishes are going to be handing their passports to the authorities any time soon.

In my experience, an online chat with a utilities provider will help acquire a valid utilities bill.

One thing that makes me chuckle is that to apply for a new passport after the previous passport has long expired, the old passport is ok to help validate the application. But that expired passport is no good for anything else. Funny old place.
 
A lot of it is meaningless gestures.
I gave my daughter some dosh towards her flat purchase.
I had to provide proof of source of funds.
I furnished a copy of my ISA.
Now the obvious next question if they were serious, which never came, would have been how did I fund the ISA.
My cannabis farm is safe…
That check would’ve been the responsibility of the ISA provider, I’d have thought.
 
Passport should be enough for proof of identity. Nothing else required. If it isn't what the hell is a passport for ?
If the money is transferred from a recognised bank that should be enough.
 
It all comes under the general heading of ‘know your customer’ (KYC). Banks and other institutions subject to the rules will do due diligence when you open accounts or take a new product, hence the ID requirements. But once you’re established, and the account operating in a well-behaved fashion (eg, money coming in from employer, or recognised investment or pension, etc) then checks will be less intrusive. If you’re in the habit of depositing substantial wodges of cash, or regularly moving funds offshore, then you might expect closer scrutiny.
 
Passport should be enough for proof of identity. Nothing else required. If it isn't what the hell is a passport for ?
If the money is transferred from a recognised bank that should be enough.
The address on your passport could be nine years out of date. Hence the need for a recent utility bill.
But if I were a halfway competent money launderer I'd have no difficulty in furnishing myself with a false passport and up-to-date electricity bill.
My wife had great fun in helping our then teenage daughter open a bank account in the bank in which the wife had had an account since she was a teenager herself because all the utility bills were in my name. Our daughter gleefully reported that mum used the F-word to the man in the bank. After the explosion the manager conceded that as the bank had been sending statements to our address for more than twenty years that, with both their passports, was sufficient.
 
RichardA Some London solicitors charge a ridiculous amount for certifying docs. £30 etc.

Good luck with your thirty quid. As Co freeholder when my neighbour sold his flat I had to provide an ID1 form to the conveyancing solicitor. Phoned round several solicitors : 'On no, we are not doing those at the moment.' I finally found a solicitor near to London Bridge - £120... Fortunately the neighbour selling was paying and not me but here is the crazy part : I was met by an office bod and the solicitor who signed the ID1 form not only did she never set eyes on me but she wasn't even on the same floor of the building during the 18 minutes it took them to 'earn' £120. We as normal people have to go through this nonsense but Mogg and that MP who was in the British Virgin Islands during lockdown 'for the good of his constituents' and their cronies will get a free pass through the process.
I wouldn't mind except that the system seems to protect the corrupt.

 
The address on your passport could be nine years out of date. Hence the need for a recent utility bill.
But if I were a halfway competent money launderer I'd have no difficulty in furnishing myself with a false passport and up-to-date electricity bill.
My wife had great fun in helping our then teenage daughter open a bank account in the bank in which the wife had had an account since she was a teenager herself because all the utility bills were in my name. Our daughter gleefully reported that mum used the F-word to the man in the bank. After the explosion the manager conceded that as the bank had been sending statements to our address for more than twenty years that, with both their passports, was sufficient.

I don't think passports have an address, do they?
 
Last edited:
RichardA Some London solicitors charge a ridiculous amount for certifying docs. £30 etc.

Good luck with your thirty quid. As Co freeholder when my neighbour sold his flat I had to provide an ID1 form to the conveyancing solicitor. Phoned round several solicitors : 'On no, we are not doing those at the moment.' I finally found a solicitor near to London Bridge - £120... Fortunately the neighbour selling was paying and not me but here is the crazy part : I was met by an office bod and the solicitor who signed the ID1 form not only did she never set eyes on me but she wasn't even on the same floor of the building during the 18 minutes it took them to 'earn' £120. We as normal people have to go through this nonsense but Mogg and that MP who was in the British Virgin Islands during lockdown 'for the good of his constituents' and their cronies will get a free pass through the process.
I wouldn't mind except that the system seems to protect the corrupt.
What I find deeply ironic is that - unless it's part of a larger matter for which I'm being billed big-time - my solicitor's office invariably demands payment in cash for certifying documents, including stuff relating to identity, usually around £20 to £50 ! My no1 daughter is a paralegal in a big London solicitors office and says it's common practice and that the money is treated as perks by the back-office staff! I find that extraordinary and wonder how it's viewed by their auditors and compliance teams. I always demand and receive a proper receipt.
 
Your address is on your driving licence, but for some reason that still isn't acceptable. Interestingly people have been turned away from flights recently because their passport is more than ten years old from the date of issue even though it remains valid for more than a month because it was renewed whilst the previous passport was still valid.
 


advertisement


Back
Top