Knowledge Base

WHAT IS VETTING? WHAT IS THE VETTING PROCESS?

According to the type of certificate you wish to purchase, the Certificate Authority (also called CA) may need to perform some background checks on you or your business.

The vetting procedure for DV certificates is pretty fast, your certificate should be delivered within 1 hour as you do not need to provide any specific information on your business.

The vetting procedure for OV and EV certificates is much longer, considering that these certificates do not only provide a secure connection between your servers and your users, but also guarantee the existence of your activity

OV- takes up to 1-2 working days and requires vetting checks:

1. Proof of organisation - registration to the Companies House (with a registration status indicating "active"), or to the DUNS database (DirectGov for government, NHS direct for NHS, EduBase for schools)
2. Proof of the control of the domain - domain registration on WHOIS records (your domain name must be clearly related to the organisation applying for the certificate)
3. Verification call – you must have a working telephone number, registered on a public registry such as www.scoot.co.uk, yell.com

EV- takes up to 3-4 working days and requires vetting checks:

1. Proof of the organisation – companies must be registered on the Companies House, with a registration status indicating "active". If your activity started less than 3 years ago, then you must also be registered to the DUNS database (DirectGov for government, NHS direct for NHS, EduBase for schools). If you are not, our vetting team will then request a Bank statement.
2. Proof of the domain - domain registration on WHOIS (your domain name must be clearly related to organisation applying for the certificate and all details must match up so they cannot miss, e.g. LTD, PLC etc…if in organisation name.
3. Verification call - you must have a working telephone number, registered on a public registry such as www.scoot.co.uk, yell.com. Your address must match the address registered in the Companies House. . There will be a phone call from the CA: first to the switchboard to confirm your employment, and the second to the admin contact of the order to confirm it.

Please note:
In addition, if you ordered an EV SSL certificate, you will have to sign an EV form, as well as an Acknowledgment Agreement.