[ad_1]
Why prove your identity?
When financial services companies ask you for proof of identity, it doesn’t necessarily mean they suspect you of being in bad standing with Robert Maxwell. No, they are required by law to verify the identity of their customers.
Usually, companies do this when you first become a customer. However, they may also ask you to prove your identity if you are already a customer. This is often due to the following reasons:
- You were a customer before ID requirements became a legal requirement (i.e. prior to 9/11) or when the standards for checks were different from what is required today.
- The service provider wants to make sure that the information it holds on you is up to date
- You may be applying for a new product or service
- The firm wants to protect itself and you from fraud
prove your identity
Neither the law nor the UK’s Financial Services Authority (FSA) set out specific details on how firms must authenticate the identity of their customers, although most reputable firms are required to follow industry protocols from the Joint Anti-Money Laundering Steering Group (JMLSG). must comply.
Firms may ask you for different types of identification, but most firms will ask you for an official national identification document to verify your name and your address or your date of birth. Examples include the following:
- a document issued by the UK government with your full name and a photograph (such as a valid passport or a valid photocard driving licence), or
- a government-issued document with your full name and title, but without a photograph (such as an old-style UK passport), plus another document containing your full name and either your full name, your address and/or your date of birth The date has been specified.
In case you are unable to provide these for any reason, the above documents, the following may suffice:
- a letter from a local or central government agency confirming entitlement to welfare/state benefits such as pension, council tax, housing benefit, or
- Appropriate confirmation of identity from a young person’s workplace or educational institution, or
- a letter from a care home manager or a warden of sheltered accommodation or asylum confirming your identity
All firms have their own policy on which documents they will accept so they should explain this to you in advance.
Where companies use electronic databases to verify your identity (ie credit applications), they cannot ask you to provide identification documents.
If you have difficulty proving your identity, the member of staff handling your application should refer the matter to someone who is authorized to decide that you are who you say you are.
[ad_2]
