The Land Registry has said it will underwrite a level of risk of fraud when it starts accepting digital signatures as part of changes that will allow mortgage and conveyancing services to be completed digitally.

The Government agency is trialling a digital mortgage service and has announced that users will have the option of completing conveyancing documents such as mortgages and transfers digitally from April 6.

Rather than a wet signature, documents will be signed by users confirming their identity through the Gov.UK Verify service, which is used by those needing to confirm who they are in order to file their tax return or claim benefits online.

Users are asked to submit details such as passport or driving licence information and are then sent a security code to their mobile phone which is entered to confirm their identity.

Business minister Greg Clark said that there was some liability risk, but that there have been no cases of fraud with the Gov.uk Verify service. In a statement to the Commons, he did not reveal the exact amount of the indemnity to be provided.

A spokesperson from HM Land Registry told EYE: “Our best estimate at this stage is that the liability is likely to be less than £100,000 in 2017/18 and could probably rise up to in the region of £250,000 by 2020/21.

“These estimates may be subject to change as the Digital Mortgage service becomes live. The Digital Mortgage is currently a beta service and will only be available for a controlled group of volume re-mortgage conveyancers using a digital channel which is fully managed by HM Land Registry.”

Clark said: “The risk of the new liability occurring is considered low. The new process, where the borrower’s identity has to be verified through Verify combined with HMLR’s independent security processes, should in fact reduce the overall risk of fraud.

“To date Verify has not identified a single example of fraud despite in excess of 1.25m citizens’ accounts having been created using the service.”

This liability will be separate to redress schemes the Land Registry already offers where there have been mistakes in searches or on documents.

The Government said the Verify procedures will be in addition to existing conveyancer ID and anti-money laundering checks.

Chief land registrar Graham Farrant said: “Our customers are central to everything we do and we want to make dealing with us quicker and simpler by providing more services through digital technology. These changes are an important enabler for our digital transformation.”