When instructing your conveyancer to carry out legal work on your behalf, you will need to provide them with 2 forms of valid identification. The types of ID your Conveyancer can accept will be provided within the initial client care paperwork sent to you.

Why Do Solicitors Need ID?

We need this information to comply with our obligations under the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations which is a legal requirement. You will be asked to provide proof of your identity at the start of the transaction so that we can carry out an online ID check to verify your ID and to check the validity of the documents. These checks are necessary to prevent fraud and ensure that there are no issues which would prevent us from acting for you. In the case of a sale, you may need to provide additional documents to demonstrate your legal authority to sell.

So, What ID Does Your Solicitor Need?

We usually need to see original documents so we can take certified copies. However, we know it's not always easy to come to our offices during business hours, and sending digital photos of your ID is often simpler. In those cases, we'll send you a link to upload your ID and a selfie to an online portal that will check your photo ID's validity.

You are required to provide two forms of valid identification:

  • Photographic ID (e.g., your passport or driving license)
  • Address ID (e.g., your driving license or a current utility bill, dated within the past three months)

If you provide your driving licence as photographic ID, you cannot use it as address ID as well. You will need to provide an alternative form of address ID.

A comprehensive list of acceptable documents is available upon request.

If you are not a British national, additional checks are necessary to confirm your right to reside in the UK and purchase property.

These checks must be completed before we can commence work on your transaction and may require additional time. The solicitors representing the other party will also need to conduct their own identification checks on their clients before proceeding.

Next Steps...

If you have any queries or require further information about what type of ID you need to provide, please don't hesitate to get in touch. You can contact the conveyancing team via email at legal@timms-law.com or by phone on 01283 214 231. Alternatively, you can visit the Conveyancing section of our website here.