Providing documents to prove your identity

When you apply for a mortgage with us, we'll ask to see some documents to help us confirm information such as:


  • Who you are
  • Where you live
  • How much you earn
  • Proof of your deposit

You can provide these when you complete your Decision in Principle (which may speed up your mortgage application), or once you've completed your full mortgage application.

Here you'll find details about the documents we'll need from you and what we're looking for, plus how you can email these documents to us.

Please note: we have different email addresses for different types of mortgage application. Please make sure you send your application to the correct address.

This is intended as a useful guide and we may ask for more documents depending on your circumstances.

Permanent employment

Are you permanently employed?

We'll need to see your latest payslip as proof of your income. We can accept online payslips in their original file format, but not screen-prints.

Below is an example payslip and the key information needed.

Payslip example
  1. Employee name must match the name on the mortgage application or if the name is on the detachable part of the payslip, we'll need to see a copy of this.
  2. Pay date and tax period must be clearly shown. This needs to be your latest payslip.
  3. Gross pay. We need to identify your normal salary. This could be basic salary, contractual pay, salary or notional salary. However, this list is not exhaustive.
  4. If you're including bonus, overtime or commission, we'll ask for additional payslips where you're using any or all of these. Please see the table below for more information.
  5. Additional allowances. We can use certain allowances as part of your basic pay including car, location and shift allowances.
  6. Please include your (first) middle name on your application if you have one.
  7. If there is an address on your payslip, this should match the address on your application.
  8. Your payslip (including any detachable parts) must show your employer's name. If your employer's name isn't on the payslip or any bank statements, you'll need to provide your P60.
  9. Please include outgoings you've told us about in your application (e.g. student loan payments or childcare vouchers).
  10. Your payslip must show your gross pay.
  11. Your payslip must show your net pay.

If you've told us about extra income you receive (e.g. bonus, overtime or commission), we'll need you to send us more payslips:


Frequency of pay Number of payslips needed
Weekly Latest 8 payslips
Fortnightly Latest 6 payslips
Monthly Latest 3 payslips
Quarterly Latest 3 quarterly payslips
Half yearly Latest 4 half yearly payslips
Annually Latest 2 annual payslips

Contractors

Are you employed on a fixed-term contract?

If you're currently employed on a fixed-term contract, you must be employed for a minimum of 12 months, or have at least 24 months remaining. You'll need to provide us with your latest employment contract. It needs to include all pages and must be signed by you and your employer. If your original contract has been extended, we need to see a copy of the extension letter. 

If you're employed on a temporary basis through an agency, we'll contact your employment agency.

Self-employed

Are you self-employed?

You'll need to have been self-employed in the UK for a minimum of two years, and you'll need to supply us with your accountant's name, address, contact telephone number and email address. We'll request an Accountant's Certificate directly from them. 

As an alternative to supplying an Accountant's Certificate, or if you don’t have an accountant we’ll need to see your last two years' HMRC tax calculations, and two years' HMRC Tax Year Overviews showing full payment of tax.

Tax calculations and the Tax Year Overviews can be printed from your online account. If you don't have an online account, you can contact the HMRC directly.

If you're a fixed-term contractor and have been invoicing through your own limited company for 1-2 years, we may treat you as an employed fixed-term contractor. If you've been a fixed-term contractor for 2 years or more, you'll be treated either as an employed FTC, or self-employed.

If you're a Nationwide member and fall outside these criteria, please call us on 0800 30 20 10.

Any other income

Have you declared any other income?

If you've declared additional income (to any employed income) on your mortgage application, you'll need to provide us with proof of this – please note, this isn't an exhaustive list.


Universal Credit, Working Tax Credits, Child Tax Credits, Employment Support Allowance, Widowed Parent's Allowance, Adoption Allowance
You’ll need to provide your latest 3 months bank statements showing the payment as being received.

Disability Living Allowance/Personal Independence Payment
A copy of your latest award letter from the Department for Work and Pension (DWP).

Maintenance
Please provide your most recent 3 months bank statements showing a Maintenance payment for each month. If the bank statement is in joint names with the person paying the Maintenance, we cannot accept this unfortunately.

Private Pension
You'll need to provide your latest annual pension statement/letter from the pension provider, latest pension payslip or P60.

State Pension
You'll need to provide your annual statement from the DWP.

Bank statements

Bank statements

Normally, we'll need to see your latest statement but we may ask for more – up to 6 months depending on your circumstances.

We accept both paper and online bank statements. If providing us with online versions, please include the HTTP address at the bottom of the page so we know they come from a trusted source.

Below is an example bank statement and the key information needed.


Sample statement
  1. The statement must show your full name or initials, surname, and your address.
  2. The Building Society/Bank logo must be shown.
  3. Bank statements must be full month statements for the number of months requested and must be the latest received.
  4. Bank account and sort code numbers must be shown.
  5. All pages of the statement(s) must be included.
  6. A running balance must be shown.
  7. If the bank statement provided is from a current account, we should be able to see that payments have left the account.
  8. Outgoings must match those declared on the application (e.g. loan and credit cards).


Proof of name and address

Proof of name and address

When you apply for a mortgage with Nationwide, we may need additional proof of your name and address to verify your identity. This is so that we can meet UK money laundering regulations to help stop criminals from using financial products or services for their own benefit. We'll only ask for enough information to allow us to open your account.

Our Customer Identification page gives you full details of the documents we'll need to see.

Evidence of deposit

Is your deposit from savings or a gift?

If it’s from savings

We may, or may not need to see the deposit in your account. If we do, we’ll let you know in your Decision in Principle. In this case, we’ll need to see your bank account statements. The number of bank statements we’ll need depends on the location of your savings account:


  • Within the UK and European Economic Area (EEA) – we’ll need to see one month’s statements.
  • Outside of the UK and EEA – we’ll need to see three months’ statements.

If we do not need to see your deposit, we won’t ask to see any bank statements.

If it’s a gift

When you apply, you’ll need to let us know if someone has gifted you money within the last year. If your gift is more than £10,000, we’ll need you to fill in a Gifted Deposit form. The person gifting you the money (the donor) may have to provide us with bank statements to prove that the deposit amount came from their account. If this is the case, the number of bank statements we’ll need to see depends on where your donor’s savings account is:


  • Within the UK – we won’t need to see any bank statements.
  • Within the European Economic Area (EEA) – we’ll need to see three month’s statements.
  • Outside of the UK and EEA – we’ll need to see six months’ statements.

Proof of residency and nationality

Proof of residency and nationality

We only need these documents if you’re asked for them on your mortgage application. Whether you’re applying for your mortgage online or by mortgage consultant you will need to bring your documents into a Branch to be certified.

We accept the following proofs however there may be circumstances where we need to ask for additional proofs/ information or may not be able to accept the proofs if the application does not meet our criteria.


  • Permanent Residence Card
  • Residence Card, Family of a Settled Person Visa and UK Ancestry Visa
  • Proof of Visa normally held in the applicants current or old passport
  • Biometric Residence Permit – These are a new style of visa card for both EEA and Non-EEA Nationals but are only acceptable for Tier 1 or Tier 2 visa, Spousal / Ancestral or have indefinite leave to remain. Please ensure the front and back of the card is received.
  • Home Office Letter – Normally only applies to Asylum Seekers and Refugees who have been granted 'indefinite leave to remain' but can also be accepted as a supporting document (i.e. if residency was a stamp endorsement in a previous passport and letter matches previous passport reference number).

Applicants from Croatia

Applications where one or more of the applicants is a Croatian national are acceptable, provided they have at least one of the following:


  • Completed a minimum of 12 months continuous employment in the UK.
  • A registration certificate.
  • Indefinite leave to remain in the UK.
  • If the applicant is self-employed they must satisfy our policy on self-employment.

Non–EEA Nationals with Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK

We are unable to accept applications from non-EEA nationals; unless they have been granted indefinite leave to remain.

If they have indefinite level to remain, we would therefore need proof from the acceptable list above.

Non–EEA Nationals without Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK

We can make exceptions in certain circumstances (except for Equity Share applications)

1. Visa Requirements:

  • Applicants with either a Tier 1 or Tier 2 visa
  • The Applicants who are in the UK on a Spousal, Family of a settled person Visa or Ancestral Visa

2. In order for these to be considered

  • Applicants must have their salary paid into a UK bank account.
  • Applicants must have been legally resident in the UK for at least 3 years

3. The application must also fit the criteria below:

  • Maximum Loan to Value of 75%:
  • Applicants must be able to fund a minimum 25% deposit from their own resources.
  • Gifts and builders cash backs are only acceptable if they’re in addition to the 25% from the applicant’s own funds.

Providing us with your documents

This can be done in a number of ways. If you're using our new trial remortgage application you can upload your documents directly to us during the process. If you're completing our regular mortgage application online, you will need to email your documents (except proof of name and address) to us. More information on this is below:


See our Customer Identification page for how to provide us with your proof of name and address.

We accept attachments in PDF, JPEG or TIF file formats and we’ll send you a confirmation email once we’ve received them. If you prefer, you can post or take all your documents into your local branch.

If you have any questions please call us on 0800 464 3000. Opening times – Mon to Fri: 8am – 6pm (closed Weekends and Bank Holidays), or visit your local branch.