We may ask you to provide us with identification. This is to protect you against the risk of identity fraud and also allows the Society to comply with money laundering regulations.
Please send us two items for each account holder with your completed application form: one which confirms who you are, and one which confirms your name and address. The same document cannot be used to confirm both your name and address, and unless otherwise indicated, the documents you send us must be the originals, which we will of course return to you.
Identification to confirm who you are:
- Full old style driving licence (UK) - current, signed*^
- Valid UK photocard driving licence (full or provisional)*^
- EEA photocard driving licence - current*
- Blue disabled driver's pass*
- Passport (UK) - current, valid and full*
- Passport (foreign) - current, valid and full*
- EEA member state identity card
- Pension book^
- DSS retirement pension card BR464 or BR2199 notification
- Inland Revenue PAYE coding notice (P2) - current tax year^
- Inland Revenue tax assessment - most recent tax year^
- Inland Revenue statement of account - current tax year^
- DSS/benefits book/official notice issued by Benefits Agency
- Birth certificate - under 18 only
- Medical card - under 18 only^
- Northern Ireland voter's card^
- Residence permit issued by Home Office
- Shotgun or firearms certificate - current
Identification to confirm your name and address:
- Utilities bill (i.e. gas, electricity) less than 3 months old
- Water or council tax bill - current year
- Full old style driving licence (UK) - current, signed*^
- Valid UK photocard driving licence (full or provisional)*^
- Bank/building society statement less than 3 months old~
- Credit card statement less than 3 months old
- DSS/benefits book/official notice issued by Benefits Agency
- Cable, satellite bill less than 3 months old
- Telephone bill less than 3 months old (excluding mobile phones)
- Medical card (under 18 only)^
- Pension book^
- Inland Revenue PAYE coding notice (P2) - current tax year^
- Inland Revenue tax assessment - most recent tax year^
- Inland Revenue statement of account - current tax year^
- S352 certificate of tax paid from another institution~
- Mortgage statement - less than 12 months old~
- Home insurance schedule - current
- Local council rent book
- Local council tenancy agreement
- Motor insurance schedule - current
- Solicitor's letter confirming recent house purchase
- Northern Ireland voter's card^
*Certified copy acceptable for postal applications.
^This ID can be used either to confirm who you are or your name and address, not both.
~Coventry Building Society statements cannot be accepted as proof of ID, you will need to provide a statement issued from another financial organisation.
Important notes concerning ID
If you are opening an account at a branch, all of the documents provided must be originals. If your appliction is being sent by post, for those items indicated with an asterisk, it is safer for you to send us certified copies, as the Society cannot be held responsible if originals are lost in the post.
A certified copy requires one of the following to certify the document as a true copy of the original: Professionally qualified person (e.g. lawyer, teacher, professor, engineer, accountant, surveyor), serving police officer, bank or building society officer, minister of religion, magistrate, FSA regulated introducer, post-master, GP, fireman, army sergeant, architect.
The person certifying should be in current employment, but we will also accept certification from a person who has retired as long as they still hold the qualification (and are a member of the relevant institute).
The person certifying must not be related to you in any way i.e. they must not be your husband, wife, brother, sister, etc. and they must not be named as a joint account holder for the new account you are opening. You cannot certify your own ID. The copy must state that it is a 'true copy of the original' and the person certifying must write the following details onto the copy ID: full name, signature, profession, address, phone number, date.
If you have a non-UK passport, this must be certified by a UK bank, solicitor or embassy official.
Please make sure any photocopy sent is of high quality, including photographs, otherwise this may not be acceptable. Copies of photographs should also be certified 'this is a true likeness of the applicant'.
If you are an adult opening the account on behalf of a child, you will also need to produce ID for yourself. Please ask for a copy of our Children's Account Opening Guide.
If you are opening an account under a Power of Attorney, you will need to provide ID for all attorneys named on the account, as well as the donor.