Certifying Documents

If you are looking for Proof of Identification and/or Proof of Address Requirements for:

• Deposit Applicants Applying for New Deposit Accounts, please click here
• Existing Deposit Customers Updating Their Currently Registered Address, please click here
• Executors & Personal Representatives of Deceased Customers, please click here

Depending on the Proof of Identification and/or Proof of Address Requirements process you are following above, when we request documents from you, we may need certain copies you send to us to be Certified. This means they’ve been validated by an independent, professionally qualified person.

The information below explains how to make sure the documents you send to us are properly Certified.

Who can Certify a document?

We accept the following professional individuals’ certification:

• bank or building society official from a local major bank or building society (i.e. in branch)
• practicing qualified chartered accountant
• practicing regulated solicitor, lawyer, barrister or notary

The person you ask shouldn’t be:

• related to you
• living at the same address
• in a relationship with you

How to Certify a document

Take the photocopied document and the original and ask the person to certify the copy by:

• writing ‘Certified to be a true copy of the original seen by…’ on the document
• signing and dating it
• printing their name under the signature
• adding their occupation, business name if applicable, address and telephone number professional membership number, where relevant

The person certifying the document may charge you a fee.

Please note, we do not accept certified copies of copies, or identification that has been scanned and then photocopied.

Translated documents

If you need to certify a translation of a document that’s not written in English or Welsh, ask the translation company to confirm in writing on the translation:

• that it’s a ‘true and accurate translation of the original document’
• the date of the translation
• the full name and contact details of the translator or a representative of the translation company

Certifying a copy of a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA)

You can confirm that a copy of your Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is genuine by having a solicitor who is regulated by the SRA, the Law Society of Scotland, or the Law Society of Northern Ireland certify it. You or your attorney can use a certified copy to register your LPA if you don’t have the original form.

Your attorney can also use it in the same way as the original – to prove they’ve got permission to make decisions on your behalf, e.g. to manage your bank account.

Note: OakNorth is not able accept donor self-certified copies of Power of Attorney documentation.

How to Certify an LPA

A solicitor who is regulated by the SRA, the Law Society of Scotland, or the Law Society of Northern Ireland must write the following text on the bottom of every page of the copy:

“I certify this is a true and complete copy of the corresponding page of the original lasting power of attorney.”

The solicitor who is regulated by the SRA, the Law Society of Scotland, or the Law Society of Northern Ireland must sign and date every page.

On the final page of the copy, the solicitor who is regulated by the SRA, the Law Society of Scotland, or the Law Society of Northern Ireland must also:

• Write “I certify this is a true and complete copy of the original Lasting Power of Attorney.”
• Provide their signature and the date
• Print their full name under the signature
• Provide their occupation, name of the solicitor firm regulated by the SRA, the Law Society of Scotland, or the Law Society of Northern Ireland, address and telephone number

Note: OakNorth is not able accept donor self-certified copies of Power of Attorney documentation.

How to Certify Deceased Customer Documentation

Please click here to view our complete Deceased Customer Process in detail and understand the exact requirements.

The following four documents will need to be Certified by one of the five regulated entities listed below if the Original copies are not being sent to us:

• Copy of the Death Certificate
• Copy of the Coroner’s Certificate of the Fact of Death Copy of the Will
• “Old-Style” Grant of Probate
• If the Grant of Probate that you will be sending, will have an issue date of 3rd March 2019 or EARLIER, this will be the “old-style” Grant of Probate with an embossed seal and OakNorth will not be able to accept an Original copy of this. The executor(s) will need to have this certified by one of the five regulated entities listed below.

The five regulated entities (exhaustive list below) acting on behalf of the executor(s), from which OakNorth can accept certification of the four deceased customer process documents listed above are:

• Firm regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority
• Firm regulated by the Law Society of Scotland
• Firm regulated by the Law Society of Northern Ireland
• Firm authorised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (for probate services)
• Firm authorised by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (for probate services)

The individual providing the certification from one of the five regulated entities listed above documents for the four deceased customer process documents listed above, must also:

• Write “I certify this is a true and complete copy of the original document”
• Provide their signature and the date
• Print their name under the signature
• Provide their occupation, name of firm, address and telephone number

If you have any questions about identification or Certifying your documents, please send an email to businessdesk@oaknorth.co.uk.