Are electronic signatures legal in the UK?

What the law says

In the UK an electronic signature cannot be denied legal effect, or be refused as evidence, just because it is electronic. That is Article 25 of the UK’s version of the eIDAS Regulation on electronic signatures. Section 7 of the Electronic Communications Act 2000 adds that an electronic signature is admissible in evidence when a court is deciding whether a document is authentic and unaltered.

The law does not demand a particular technology. What matters is that the person meant to sign, that you can show who signed, and that the document has not changed since.

The three kinds of electronic signature

UK law describes three levels.

• Simple. A typed name, a drawn signature, a ticked box or a name at the bottom of an email. Most businesses use this for most documents, and it is what SignEdge provides.
• Advanced. Uniquely linked to the signer, able to identify them, created in a way they control, and set up so that any later change to the document can be detected. In practice it usually involves an identity check as well.
• Qualified. Created with a qualified certificate from an approved provider. It has the same legal effect as a handwritten signature and is worth considering for the highest-value or most heavily regulated documents.

A simple signature is still a valid signature. The difference between the levels is how easy it is to prove who signed, not whether the signature counts.

What courts have accepted

English courts have accepted informal electronic signatures where the circumstances showed an intention to sign. In Golden Ocean Group v Salgaocar Mining Industries (2012) the Court of Appeal accepted typed names at the end of emails as a signature on a guarantee. In Neocleous v Rees (2019) the High Court accepted an automatic email footer as a signature on a contract for the sale of land.

Those decisions turned on their facts, so they are not a promise about your document. They do show that courts look at what the people intended rather than at the technology used.

Documents that are usually fine to sign electronically

• Quotes, estimates and proposals
• Service and freelance agreements
• Non-disclosure agreements
• Employment paperwork
• Consent and release forms
• Most day-to-day commercial contracts

Some documents have extra rules. Read which documents can’t be signed electronically before you rely on an electronic signature for anything important.

How to make an electronic signature easier to prove

• Send the document to an email address the signer controls, and keep the record of the invitation.
• Keep the signed PDF together with its activity trail.
• Check the finished file has not changed, for example by comparing its fingerprint.
• For high-value documents, add something stronger: an identity check, a witness, or signing in person.

The guide to proving an electronic signature goes through this in more detail.