Proof of Identity for Contract Extension

[PrinceNamor]

I'm about to be offered contract extension no 3 and the agency is now asking for a copy of my passport to comply with the new agency regulations which I beleive came into effect last year.

As I operate my own Ltd Co and have opted out I was under the impression that the regulations do not apply to me and therefore I shouldn't need to supply this . I have offered the agency a letter from my company stating that they have checked that all employees (including myslelf) have had their identity checked and are entitled to work in the UK.

It pisses me off big time that most agencies don't seem to understand the regulations!

[cykophysh39]

are you contracted with Huxley Associates by any chance?

[brianbetter]

Opt out and identification.

If you have signed an opt out agreement then the contract is between the agency and your Ltd company. As the agreement is between two companies and not a company and an individual then i.d. should not be needed. However. a lot of agencies ask for this because there are a huge amount of scamming going on and a lot of agencies are getting stung with ghost worker scams and they are doing everything they can to avoid the risks.

Hope this helps

[NotAllThere]

Leaving aside the legality of making a copy of a passport, and indeed the requirements for company to company contracts, the agency only construct a defence if you personally show them the passport, and they make the copy in your presence.

I thought the laws about verifying eligibility to work in the UK came in in 2000? Or is this a new set?

[cykophysh39]

I thought the laws about verifying eligibility to work in the UK came in in 2000? Or is this a new set?

This is purely pimp's bungling again.
Spoke to my legal advisor (Barrister) yesterday and he informed me that I should not hand over any photographic ID to anyone, unless they are overseen by an ombudsman or A government body.
Pimps should be assigned to the data protection act, and should Guarantee that your personal data is safe. If they HMRC cannot guarantee the safety of your personal details, how can glorified estate agents guarantee it.

The section of the law they claim they are adhering to is

"5. "Customer due diligence measures" means—

(a) identifying the customer and verifying the customer’s identity on the basis of documents, data or information obtained from a reliable and independent source;"

However this is taken care of once you submit your bank details, Company Registration number and VAT Registration number. These all form part of Due Dilligence as details of Directors been checked by the 3 bodies, Company's House, Bank's, and HMRC. So therefore another dubios check by Trotter and Co is not needed.

Found the following post on PCG
http://www.pcg.org.uk/cms/index.php?...376&Itemid=640

[PrinceNamor]

Pimp got back to me yesterday, having contacted his legal team, and agreed that I do not need to supply a copy of my passport. Instead I'm giving them a letter stating that all employees of my company are eligible to work in the UK.

[malvolio]

Found the following post on PCG
http://www.pcg.org.uk/cms/index.php?...376&Itemid=640

The pertinent bit of which is

There is no requirement on contractors to provide such evidence. PCG advice is, however, that there is no compelling reason not to comply with such requests. Any contractor who declines to co-operate does so at the risk of ruling themselves out of a contract.

The paranoia is about associating yourself personally with the client and hence pitching into IR35. A decent defence against IR35 will totally negate that particular risk; they are not related anyway.

[Dow Jones]

Boooored

I'm getting bored by the same posts day-after-day/week-after-week/month-after-month about passport/id stuff. Have you numpties nothing else - more interesting to the rest of us - to talk about?

[Hex]

You start - I'm off to photocopy my passport.

[cykophysh39]

I'm getting bored by the same posts day-after-day/week-after-week/month-after-month about passport/id stuff. Have you numpties nothing else - more interesting to the rest of us - to talk about?

I drove down an intrestring road today, on my way to do a bit of train spotting