I receive online statements / utility bills, what can I do?

October 3rd, 2013 by Jonathan Bazely

The documents that a Registered Body can accept in support of an Enhanced/Standard Disclosure application are defined by the Disclosure and Barring Service. In the official guidance, they specify that original documents must be used, and photocopies or documents printed by an applicant are not acceptable. Excluded from this list of acceptable documents are mobile phone statements, which can not be accepted in any form.

With the ever increasing use of online billing and paper-less accounts this can cause an issue for some applicants. We recommend that applicants contact their statement or utility provider as they will normally be able to provide a paper document with the current address on.

Most Banks/Building Societies will be able to print a statement in a local branch if requested, although some may charge a fee for this if it is outside of the normal statement period. When requesting a statement in branch please ensure that they print it on headed paper and date stamp the document to confirm that they have issued it. If this is not done we are unable to differentiate between a statement printed by the bank or one printed by the applicant.

Please remember to ensure that the document produced is within the time-frame stated on the guidance notes.