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What is a certified copy of a deed poll?

A copy of your deed poll certified as a true copy, which most organisations accept and keep. What it is not, and why HM Passport Office and DVLA want the original.

Checked against GOV.UK Updated

A drawing of a stack of certified deed poll copies

The short answer

A certified copy is a copy of your deed poll certified as a true copy of the original. Most organisations accept one in place of the original and keep it, so the original stays at home while the copies travel. HM Passport Office and DVLA are the exceptions: they ask for the original and post it back.

Key facts

Who accepts a certified copy
Banks, lenders, pensions, employers and solicitors, among many others
Who wants the original
HM Passport Office and DVLA, both of which post it back
A photocopy
Not the same thing; most organisations refuse one
A notarised copy
For documents used abroad, not for UK organisations
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On this page 4 sections
  1. Three documents that get confused
  2. Who wants which
  3. How many you need
  4. A copy of a deed we did not draft

Three documents that get confused#

  • A photocopy is a copy anyone could have made, so most organisations will not accept one as evidence of a change of name.
  • A certified copy is a copy that a person in a position to do so has marked as a true copy of the original. GOV.UK describes certifying a copy of a document by having someone such as a solicitor, a bank official or a professional person sign and date it as a true copy; we certify copies of the deed polls we draft ourselves. Organisations accept a certified copy because someone has vouched that it matches the original.
  • A notarised copy is a copy certified by a notary public under their seal, for use in another country. UK organisations do not ask for one. Using a UK deed poll abroad explains when a notary comes in.

What a notary public does covers notarised copies for use abroad.

Who wants which#

Many organisations take a certified copy and keep it: banks and lenders, pension providers, employers, solicitors and accountants, schools and universities. Others ask for less: the nursing, medical and health and care regulators (the NMC, GMC and HCPC) take a scan uploaded online, and many energy and water companies ask for no document at all. That is why the original is worth protecting. It is the only one you have, and an organisation that files what it is sent does not send it back.

Two organisations ask for the original deed poll itself. HM Passport Office asks for your original documents with a passport application, and DVLA says not to send photocopies with a driving licence application; both return what you send. So the original goes to them, one at a time, and copies go everywhere else.

How many you need#

Count the organisations that keep a copy, not the number of accounts: two banks, three old pensions, an employer and a solicitor is seven, and two spares are worth having. How many certified copies do I need? goes through it. Ours are £6 for 2 up to £25 for 20, ordered with the deed poll and posted together.

A copy of a deed we did not draft#

We can only certify a deed poll we drafted, so certified copies are not sold on their own. If yours came from elsewhere, or is lost, a replacement deed poll with copies is the route: the replacement records the same change and the same date.

Sources

Every fact above was checked against these on . If a source has changed since, tell us and we will correct the page.