Confirm who you are

Who needs to confirm their identity

You’ll need to confirm your identity if:

you’re making a claim
you’re representing someone making a claim, either through a Power of Attorney or because you have been asked to help someone

You may also need to do this if you’re legally witnessing some part of the claim process.

If you were previously registered with a support scheme you will still need to confirm your identity with us.

Find out more about asking someone to represent you.

We’ll contact you when it is time to confirm your identity.

Why you have to confirm your identity

We ask you to do this to protect your identity and any information related to your claim.

It will also help us process your claim more quickly.

If you need help

Your claim manager can help you with any part of this. You don’t need to explain why.

What you can do now

There are two things you can do before we contact you:

create a GOV.UK One Login account, if you do not already have one — you will need an email address
find your passport or driving licence, if you have one

You don’t need to send any documents until you’ve been asked to.

There are three ways to use GOV.UK One Login.

Your claim manager will talk to you to find out which way suits you.

Use the app on your smartphone

When it is time, your claim manager will send you a personal link to GOV.UK One Login. This will open the app or show you where to download it.

You can then use the One Login app on a smartphone to take a photo of your face and your photo ID.

If you do not have a smartphone, you can use someone else’s. You can also ask someone you know and trust to help you.

The GOV.UK One Login guidance explains:

which phones are able to use GOV.UK One Login
acceptable forms of photo ID

Answer questions in your browser

If you do not want to or cannot use the smartphone app, you can answer questions online instead.

These are questions about accounts in your name, like your bank account, credit card, loan, mortgage or mobile phone contract.

You’ll be able to do this by following the link the claim manager sends you.

Visit the Post Office

Take your photo ID to a Post Office that offers One Login identity checking.

Not every Post Office offers this service, so check before you go.

GOV.UK One Login will email you the result, usually within a day. Your claim manager will take it from there.

If none of these ways work for you

If none of these ways work for you, your claim manager can help you find another way.

You may have to send some documents to IBCA to prove your identity this way.

Sending documents to IBCA

You will need at least 3 documents. They must be:

different types of document, from different organisations
issued by a government body, a bank or building society, or a regulated service provider
current, and not expired

At least one should have your photo on it, if you have one.

Photographing or scanning your documents

Each image must be:

in colour
in focus and not blurred
showing all four corners, with nothing cropped or covered up

Send both sides of a document where it has two.

Documents we can accept

The easiest documents to verify are listed first:

passport
driving licence
marriage certificate
birth certificate
utility bill
bank statement
Council Tax bill for the current tax year
a letter from a UK government body such as the Department for Work and Pensions or HM Revenue and Customs, dated within the last 12 months and showing your name and address

Remember that your documents need to come from different organisations.

Documents we cannot accept

You cannot use:

documents from mobile phone companies
library cards
store or gym membership cards
unofficial letters
anything you have written yourself
social media profiles
education certificates, such as GCSEs, A levels, NVQs, SQAs or degree certificates

How the scheme works