How many certified copies do I need?#
One for each organisation that keeps the copy it is sent, plus a spare or two, counting providers rather than accounts. HM Passport Office and DVLA ask for the original deed poll and return it, so they need no copy.
The organisations that keep a certified copy are the ones that have to record the evidence they checked. Banks, building societies, lenders and pension providers keep it as part of their customer records, and solicitors, accountants and financial advisers must keep copies of the identity evidence they check under regulation 40 of the Money Laundering Regulations 2017. Each provider needs its own copy: one bank with three accounts is one copy, but two banks is two.
A working list for most people:
| Usually keeps a copy | Usually does not |
|---|---|
| Each bank or building society | HM Passport Office (wants the original, returns it) |
| Each credit card provider, loan or car finance agreement | DVLA (wants the original, returns it) |
| Your mortgage lender | HMRC (tell them online or in the app) |
| Each workplace pension scheme, and any personal pension | Your council |
| Each savings, ISA or investment provider | Your GP, dentist and optician |
| Your employer, and any second employer or agency | Energy, water, broadband and TV Licensing |
| A professional body that wants a copy by post (the NMC, GMC and HCPC take an upload) | Insurers, usually |
| Your solicitor, accountant or adviser | The electoral register |
| Your school, college or university | Landlords and letting agents, usually |
How do I work out the number?#
Someone with two bank accounts at different banks, one credit card, a mortgage, three old workplace pensions, an employer and a solicitor handling a house move: two, plus one, plus one, plus three, plus one, plus one is nine. Two spares, for the organisation you forgot and the copy that gets lost in the post, makes eleven. Copies come in bundles of 2, 6, 10, 15 and 20.
Why not send the original deed poll?#
Because an organisation that files what it is sent does not send it back, and there is no register to fetch another from. The original should leave the house only for HM Passport Office and DVLA, which ask for it and return it.
What if I need more copies later?#
Copies can only be certified from a deed we drafted, and are ordered with it, so it is cheaper to order two more than you think you need than to come back for them: the 10-copy bundle at £15 costs £5 more than the 6-copy one. If the deed was drafted elsewhere, a replacement deed poll with copies is the route.
