My local council has farmed out life certificates to Crown Agents Bank an it have found it a nightmare 
After many attempts of getting codes to mobile, only connects in the garden, and timing out, I finally managed to get registered. Being a tecnophobe the procedure of facial id instigated words that I would normally hear on a lads night out 
so
I asked CAB for an alternative , thankfully a ânormalâ form arrived, but they have restricted who can sign and stamp! Does anybody else have/had this problem?
Rant over
Thanks
L
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Oh Lily, I can really relate with your frustration - not only in connection with âproof of lifeâ certification but a whole gamit of instances where âauthoritiesâ of various guises require their âclients/customersâ to jump through increasingly complex and technology based hoops to prove their own existence.
These institutions often introduced âimprovedâ security protocols which are not sufficiently stress tested or take little account of the reality of living in âforeignâ countries where there can be a natural wariness to sign and stamp Forms which (in a language which is not their maternal one) carry dire warnings of potential legal action for any falsehood. I have had instances where Original documents have been considered unacceptable because they have âleft UK shoresâ and will only suffice if they are signed and stamped by certain authorised persons - many of which will charge a fee.
I fear that as âner-do-wellsâ continue to outwit these institutions the latter will adopt more and complex methods to try and stay one step ahead and will leave an increasing number of less advantaged people behind (by reasons of disability, economic means, age or technological knowledge).
Keep up the ranting - it can bring change.
From a Grumpy Old Git.
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who have they named/suggested as suitable signatories ???
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My wife and I always take ours to the mairie - where we get a signature and an official stamp.
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Seconded.
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Like so many others⌠we have used the Mairie and occasionally the PostmistressâŚ
but @Lily reckons her Provider has restricted who can sign and stamp⌠but does not clarify further⌠not yet, anyway⌠
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Thirded
Our pension companies also restrict who we can get to sign - doctor, accountant, etc and donât specifically mention the mayor. In the 16 years weâve been here, no company has refused our mayorâs certification. I think itâs the stamp that does it. 
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I went to the mairie as well last year and they kindly signed and stamped it officially and kept a copy back so they could refer to it in future. There is nothing more official than your local mairie, they are government.
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I agree with what everyone has said so far. When we were going backwards and forwards to the UK I used an accountant friend there but since then weâve both gone to the Mairie. Since I have 3 small pensions in total, that means 3 of these wretched things per year - all different but as @Shiba has found, they take a copy and keep it at the mairie for future reference.
I also agree with what @SuePJ says - itâs the stamp that does it! On one occasion it was filled in by a temp at the mairie, with all the info in the wrong places so the pension people clearly didnât read any of it - must have just looked at the stamp 
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I always fill in the form for them and then they just stamp and sign.
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Thank you all for your replies.
My MT has always signed and stamped the LCâs with out any problem.
The options are
Bank official
Barrister, solicitor, advocate
Diplomatic etc
Public notary
Strangely if you are in the UK ,any of the above plus Dr, Police or MP!
Sorry for the delay in replying 
I will take a bet the Mairie qualifies as a Public Notary.
Interestingly it seems the stamp is attached to an individual or at least only some functionaries can sign these things and I think the stamp may be individual or at least only allowed to be used by specific types or levels of functionary there rather than anyone in the building
I could be wrong here but âPublic Notaryâ equated, I thought, to one of the aspects of a French notaire in that they perform their duties at least partially for the State?
As far as the stamps at our mairie are concerned, anyone working as an âagent dâaccueilâ on the desk can use it but I donât know if thatâs normal 
Ours is a small commune so the person on the desk is always the commune secretary. I donât think our mayor has ever stamped it.
I certainly wouldnât worry about any of this. Basically the financial companies are just ticking boxes so they can show they have done due diligence.
Thatâs certainly my experienceâŚ
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For the benefit of future pensioners, what does a typical (if such a thing exists) Proof of Life certificate ask for, in terms of information?
Having arranged a few for my OH, its just a certification by eg the Maire that you are who you say you zre and you are indeed alive. Passport number, name, position of signee and official stamp
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I took property bills too, being new to this commune so they could check me against their records.
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not necessary of course, but going that extra mile is rarely wastedâŚ
I suspect they wonât be forgetting you in a hurryâŚ
No, already had several visits previously when the builder forgot to submit the paperwork for my electricity and water to be connected and the lovely technical agent who works there sorted the lot for me and "bllcked the builder himself. They were quite interested in my previous years of municipal service being a foreigner.
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