Horizon Shortfall Scheme Appeals: proving your identity

To register for the HSS Appeals (HSSA) process, you will need to prove your identity. You must submit your ID documents along with your registration form.

ID verification checks arewill be required for all those registering for HSSA. These checks will need to be carried out before the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) can conduct the necessary checks to confirm if you are eligible.

The verification process is different depending on several factors, including whether you have legal representation and whether you are a personal representative acting on behalf of a postmaster.

Postmaster with legal representation

If you are, or were, a postmaster and you have legal representation to make an application on your behalf, youwe needwill to provide:require:

• scanned copies or clear photographs of your 3 forms of ID (one piece of photo identification, 2 proof of address documents) – see the list of acceptable ID documents for information on the required ID documentation
• a form of authority from the legal representative,representative, signed by the applicant to confirm that the legal representative has explicit authority to act on your behalf in the HSS Appeals process (your legal representative should provide the document for this)
• a solicitor’s declaration to support their verification of your ID documents – see the template for legal representative verification statements

Postmaster without legal representation

If you are, or were, a postmaster and you are acting on your own behalf and do not have legal representation to make an application, youwe needwill to provide:require:

• scanned copies or clear photographs of your 3 forms of ID (one piece of photo identification, 2 proof of address documents) – see the list of acceptable ID documents for information on the required ID documentation

If unrepresented, we will also require verification of your identity from a countersignatory. The countersignatory must satisfy various criteria, fully explained in the countersignatory requirements.

TheFrom countersignatorythe needscountersignatory, towe provide:will require:

• a signed confirmation and verification statement – see the template for the countersignatory confirmation and verification statement
• we also require a proof of address document for the countersignatory – see the list of acceptable proof of address documents for countersignatories for information on acceptable proof of address documentation

Personal representative acting on behalf of a deceased postmaster

If you are a personal representative with legal authority to act on behalf of a deceased postmaster, youwe needwill to provide:require:

• scanned copies or clear photographs of your 3 forms of ID (one piece of photo identification, 2 proof of address documents) – see the list of acceptable ID documents for information on the required ID documentation
• documentation to prove that you are legally authorised to act on the deceased postmaster’s behalf – full information on acceptable documentation can be found in the registering for someone else guidance

If multiple personal representatives are acting, then we will need thisthese documentationrequirements for each individual representative.

If you, as a personal representative acting on behalf of a deceased postmaster, do not have legal representation to make an application, then youwe needwill toalso provide:require:

• verification of your identity from a countersignatory – the countersignatory must satisfy various criteria, fully explained in the countersignatory requirements
• a confirmation and verification statement from the third-party countersignatory – see the template for the countersignatory confirmation and verification statement
• a proof of address document for the countersignatory – see the list of acceptable proof of address documents for countersignatories for information on acceptable proof of address documentation

If multiple personal representatives are acting, then we will need thisthese documentationrequirements for each individual representative.

If you, as a personal representative acting on behalf of a deceased postmaster, do have legal representation to make an application, then youwe needwill toalso provide:require:

• a form of authority from the legal representative,representative, signed by the applicant, to confirm that the legal representative has explicit authority to act on their behalf in the HSSA process (your legal representative should provide the document for this)
• a solicitor’ssolution declaration to support their verification of their client’s ID documents – see the template for legal representative verification statements

If multiple personal representatives are acting, then we will need thisthese documentationrequirements for each individual representative.

Personal representative acting on behalf of a postmaster

If you are a personal representative legally authorised to act on behalf of a postmaster, youwe needwill torequire provide:the following:

• scanned copies or clear photographs of the postmaster’s 3 forms of ID (one piece of photo identification, 2 proof of address documents) – see the list of acceptable ID documents for information on the required ID documentation
• documentation to prove that you have the legal authority to act on the postmaster’s behalf – full information on acceptable documentation can be found in the registering for someone else guidance

If multiple personal representatives are acting, then we will need thisthese documentationrequirements for each individual representative.

If you, as a personal representative acting on behalf of a postmaster, do not have legal representation to make an application, then youwe needwill toalso provide:require:

• verification of the postmaster’s identity from a countersignatory – the countersignatory must satisfy various criteria, fully explained in the countersignatory requirements
• a confirmation and verification statement from the third-party countersignatory – see the template for the countersignatory confirmation and verification statement
• a proof of address document for the countersignatory – see the list of acceptable proof of address documents for countersignatories for information on acceptable proof of address documentation

If multiple personal representatives are acting, then we will need thisthese documentationrequirements for each individual representative.

If you, as a personal representative acting on behalf of a postmaster, do have legal representation to make an application, then youwe needwill toalso provide:require:

• a form of authority from theyour legal representative,representative, signed by you, the personal representative, to confirm that the legal representative has explicit authority to act on your behalf in the HSSA process (your legal representative should provide the document for this)
• a solicitor’s declaration to support their verification of the postmaster’s ID documents – see the template for legal representative verification statements

If multiple personal representatives are acting, then we will need thisthese documentationrequirements for each individual representative.