Independent Legal Advice Certificate: What It Is and How to Get One Online

What is an independent legal advice certificate?

You usually meet this document near the end of a lending transaction. Before a mortgage, loan or guarantee completes, the lender asks certain people involved — a guarantor, a spouse or partner, an occupier, a joint borrower — to take advice from a solicitor who has no connection with the deal. Once that advice has been given, the solicitor signs a short certificate confirming it. That certificate — sometimes called an ILA certificate, a solicitor's certificate or a certificate of independent legal advice — is the piece of paper the lender is actually waiting for. Until it arrives, most lenders will not release funds or complete.

The certificate is evidence of the advice, not the advice itself. The real substance is the appointment behind it: a private conversation in which a solicitor walks you through the document, answers your questions and makes sure you understand the consequences before you sign. If you want the fuller background first, our plain-English guide to independent legal advice covers it step by step.

What does the certificate confirm?

There is no single statutory form of ILA certificate, but most follow the same pattern. A typical certificate identifies the solicitor giving the advice, together with their firm and regulatory status; identifies you and the document you were advised on — a deed of guarantee or an occupier consent form, for example; confirms that the advice was given in a private appointment, away from the lender and the other parties; confirms that the solicitor is satisfied you understood the nature and effect of the document and signed freely, without pressure from anyone; and is signed and dated by the solicitor.

Many lenders issue their own certificate template as part of the mortgage or facility pack and will only accept advice recorded on that form. That is completely normal — if you have been sent one, email it to info@ilahub.com and your adviser will complete the lender's own form during your appointment at no extra charge. Where there is no set form, our certificates are prepared to satisfy standard lender requirements.

Why do lenders and solicitors ask for one?

The requirement protects two people at once. It protects you, because guaranteeing someone else's debt or giving up rights over your home is a serious step, and you deserve an impartial explanation from someone with no stake in the transaction before you commit. And it protects the lender, because the courts have long recognised that people can be pressured — sometimes subtly — into signing documents that mainly benefit someone else, most famously in the undue-influence cases that produced what lawyers call the Etridge guidelines.

Since those cases, lenders have known that a transaction can be challenged if a signer later shows they did not understand it or were unduly influenced. The independent legal advice certificate is the lender's answer: documented evidence that a solicitor explained the document and was satisfied you signed freely. That is why the request is non-negotiable — and why the certificate has to come from an adviser who is genuinely independent, not from a solicitor already acting in the transaction.

Which transactions need an ILA certificate?

Any transaction where one person takes on risk for someone else's borrowing can trigger the requirement. The most common are:

• **Personal guarantees** — company directors guaranteeing business loans, leases or trade accounts with their personal assets.
• **Occupier consent forms** — adults living in a mortgaged property who are not named on the mortgage, agreeing that their rights rank behind the lender's.
• **JBSP mortgages** — joint borrower, sole proprietor arrangements, where someone joins the mortgage without owning the property.
• **Bridging loans** — short-term secured finance, where guarantors, spouses and occupiers are often asked to sign supporting documents against tight deadlines.
• **Equity release** — lifetime mortgages and home reversion plans, where each borrower needs independent advice before completion.

Lenders and solicitors also ask for certificates in other situations — second charges, transfers of equity and director or shareholder guarantees among them. If you have simply been told "you need an ILA certificate" and are not sure which box you fit, the wording of the lender's request usually names the document — and that document is what your appointment will cover.

How to get independent legal advice online

You no longer need to ring around local firms and wait for an office appointment. The whole process runs online, with nothing to print or post:

1. Book online from a live diary. Choose the exact date and time that suits you — appointments run Monday to Friday, 9am to 7pm — and pay the fixed fee up front. No call-backs, no quotes.
2. Verify your ID from your phone. Before the appointment you complete secure online identity verification. It takes a few minutes.
3. Attend a 30-minute video appointment. You meet a solicitor by secure video call. They go through your document with you, explain its effect in plain English and answer your questions.
4. Receive your certificate by email. Once the solicitor is satisfied, your signed certificate is emailed to you the same working day as your appointment, ready to forward to your lender or solicitor.

Independent legal advice given by video call is accepted by the vast majority of UK lenders, and remote appointments have become the standard way these certificates are produced. If you would like to see the process in more detail, how it works walks through every step.

Can you get same day independent legal advice?

Yes — and faster than most people expect. ILA is often the last item on a completion checklist, so speed matters. Our Priority Same-Day tier exists for exactly that: it books you into the earliest available appointment, including today, and your certificate is emailed the same working day as the appointment.

A few practical realities. Same-day availability depends on a slot remaining in today's diary: appointments run Monday to Friday, 9am to 7pm, so the earlier in the day you book, the better your chances. The live diary shows real availability before you pay, so you will know straight away whether a same-day slot exists. If today is fully booked — or it is already evening, or the weekend — Fast Track secures an appointment from the next working day instead. Either way, the certificate follows the appointment on the same working day, so an appointment today genuinely means a certificate today.

What does an independent legal advice certificate cost?

Fees are fixed, charged per person and shown before you book — no hourly rates, no surprise extras. Standard is £150, with an appointment within 2–3 working days. Fast Track is £250, with an appointment from the next working day. Priority Same-Day is £350, for the earliest available appointment, including today. Every tier includes the 30-minute video appointment, secure online ID verification and the signed certificate emailed the same working day as your appointment — the fee only changes how soon the appointment takes place. Full details are on the pricing page.

If two of you need advice — a couple signing an occupier consent form and a guarantee, say — the fee applies per person, because each of you needs your own advice and your own certificate. You can book back-to-back slots so everything is done in one sitting.

Who can provide an independent legal advice certificate?

The certificate must come from a legal adviser who is independent of the other parties — not the solicitor acting for the lender, the borrower or the company whose loan you are guaranteeing. Lenders normally expect the advice to be given, and the certificate signed, by a practising solicitor; some spell out exactly who may sign in the wording of their request, so check that wording if you are unsure. Independence is the entire point: the certificate only has value because the adviser answers to you and no one else.

At ILA Hub, your advice is provided by a solicitor authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, who acts for you alone in the appointment and has no connection with your lender or the other parties to your transaction.