first direct electronic COT (e-COT)

13 May, 2020

first direct are launching an electronic Certificate of Title from 11am 18 May 2020, providing a simpler and faster end user service. The new e-COT will be available for England& Wales and Scottish purchase cases.

• The e-COT will be available on the first direct public website: firstdirect.com/legal-instructions
• When selecting the link for the e-COT it will open an adobe smart form with instructions on the first page explaining how to complete the form.
• A wet signature is no longer required
• The e-CoT includes a validate button which will validate the format in the fields. If correct, a “send to bank” box will appear. Once the box is selected, the e-CoT form will open your default email software and attach itself to an email prefilled with the email address of the bank. Do not modify any of the details
• To confirm that the e-CoT has been successfully submitted, you will receive an automatic response from the bank with the following message:

“Thank you for submitting your completion request. We will process your request in line with the date you have requested funds for and will only make further contact if there are any outstanding matters preventing completion. We would be grateful if you do not unnecessarily contact the bank for updates on the completion status, unless urgent.”

• As this is an automated process, only e-COTs will be a recognised submission to this email address, anything else which you attach will not be transferred automatically, therefore please follow usual processes for any other correspondence that is not a COT.