Agents may be duped into using wrong Right To Rent ID checks

Agents are confused over so-called digital identity verification - and some suppliers may be trying to dupe agents.

That’s the claim from a company called Credas Technologies, which says there’s a lack of clarity surrounding the definition of what makes a certified digital identity service provider.

In December 2021 the UK government published the UK Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework. 

It explained that the government wanted to enable businesses such as letting agents to use digital identity service providers - IDSPs -  to complete ID verification checks on their behalf. 

The guidance sets out exactly how IDSPs can become certified to complete ID checks for the Right to Work, Right to Rent, and DBS schemes. This framework offers a set of rules that companies must agree to follow in order to conduct secure and trustworthy checks.

However, Credas claims that some non-certified providers are copying the language and rhetoric used in the government’s Digital Identity Trust Framework, giving the impression to agents that their products are indeed government certified when in fact they are not.

The government provides a live list of certified IDSPs - you can see it here - and if a company or scheme does not appear on this list, it is not certified. 

But it’s also important to note that various providers are certified to different degrees and, in fact, just 18 of the 34 that appear on the government list are certified to carry out Right To Rent checks. 

Tim Barnett, chief executive of Credas Technologies, says: “It’s quick and easy to find the official list of government-certified digital ID verification providers. Unfortunately in recent months we have witnessed real confusion amongst many agents between authentic UK government certification and those being offered by some private companies that hold themselves out to be government certified but are not.”