Why do I need to provide evidence to update my details and what evidence do you accept?

Key points:

• If you need to update your personal details like name, date of birth or gender, you may need to send us one or more documents as proof of your identity.
• This is to ensure that your account is protected and only you get access to your account information.

What is the exact evidence you need from me?

For your security, we need to check your personal details before we make any permanent changes to your account. We accept the following documents as proof of identification:

• Passport
• Driving licence (We cannot accept the paper counterpart driving licence)
• Deed Poll certificate

You can send us the original document or a certified copy. Depending on the circumstances, we may also ask you to provide: 

• Original birth certificate
• Original marriage certificate 

How do I get my documents certified?

• You’ll need to take your original identification and a copy to someone currently working in one of the professions listed in the table at the end of this article. 
• We will not accept any evidence certified by a relative or a person living at the same address.
• The person certifying the copy of identification needs to write or stamp their name, profession, address and telephone number on the copy. 
• They also need to write on the copy ‘I certify that this is a true copy of the original’ and they must sign and date it. 
• We will accept the evidence if it is certified within the last six months of you sending it.
• Failure to provide these details may result in your evidence being rejected and is likely to delay the processing of your case.
• To ensure your documents are certified correctly, please see the examples below

When and how will I receive my evidence back from Nest?

• Once we’ve received and verified your original documents they will be sent back to you within five working days.
• We will return your evidence in the same manner you send it to us. For example: if you send us the evidence via recorded delivery, we will return the evidence via recorded delivery.

How do I send my documents to Nest?

You can send your evidence by post to: 
Nest
Nene Hall
Lynch Wood Business Park
Peterborough
PE2 6FY

To avoid postal delays, please use your Nest secure mailbox to send documents to us electronically. We can’t accept copies of birth, death, marriage or civil partnership certificates. If you are sending one of these documents, you’ll need to send the original document by post.   

To send us documents via your Nest secure mailbox:

• Login to your Nest account and click ‘Mailbox’.
• Click ‘Compose message or chat’ and then click ‘Compose message’.
• Enter the subject, message type and the text of your message in the Your message field. 
• Click ‘Attach file’ at the bottom of the message to upload your document. You’ll need to send separate emails from your Nest secure mailbox for each of your attachments.
• Once complete, click ‘Send’.

When using your Nest mailbox:

• Ensure the attachment file size doesn’t exceed 2 MB. Find out more about how to resize your image file.
• Don’t compress or zip the files.
• Only .jpeg, .gif, .tiff, .doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx and .pdf file types can be accepted.  

Who can sign a certified copy?

The following professionals can certify your documents: