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Passport as ID

Nephew is disabled and wheelchair bound. 3 years ago he went to France for 4 days with his mother. He booked special assistance at the airport and of course could not do any walking.

He has been on DLA for 27 years but now has to apply for PIP.

He is worried that if he takes his passport for ID purposes, it may be scanned and if so, DWP will find out about the trip to France.

He would rather not mention that as he knows it may be misinterpreted and indicate he is ok to go on holiday therefore nothing wrong with him.

So are DWP likely to scan his passport?
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Comments

  • There are a number of things they will accept for I.D some off the top of my head, a bank statement, bus pass (with photo), but as far as I'm aware they wouldn't scan the passport anyway.
  • poppy12345
    poppy12345 Posts: 18,976 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    They don't scan the passport.
  • calcotti
    calcotti Posts: 15,696 Forumite
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    A trip 3 years ago is not relevant anyway, they have to assess him on his condition now.
    Information I post is for England unless otherwise stated. Some rules may be different in other parts of UK.
  • For EU citizens, there's no visas needed to travel from the UK to France anyway (for the time being!) so there's likely no evidence in the passport anyway.
  • Muttleythefrog
    Muttleythefrog Posts: 20,662 Forumite
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    Nothing to worry about... there's so many remote risks that have to conspire... it is unlikely anyone at the DWP or Assessment company would look beyond the photopage nevermind scan it or look for what may be non existent stamps on other pages to then make wild extrapolations....

    Passport is fine :)
    "Do not attribute to conspiracy what can adequately be explained by incompetence" - rogerblack
  • zaksmum
    zaksmum Posts: 5,529 Forumite
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    The passport is scanned at both the outward and return airport, so there will be information regarding his travels available to anyone with the right to access it. My nephew has been told DWP are entitled to do so, and also to see bus pass records, so hopefully that's just a myth.
  • poppy12345
    poppy12345 Posts: 18,976 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    zaksmum wrote: »
    The passport is scanned at both the outward and return airport, so there will be information regarding his travels available to anyone with the right to access it. My nephew has been told DWP are entitled to do so, and also to see bus pass records, so hopefully that's just a myth.
    As advised, they do not scan any passports. When attending a face to face assessment it's the health assessment providers you see, not DWP and they definitely do not scan them.
  • parkrunner
    parkrunner Posts: 2,610 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 1,000 Posts
    Why this would affect a claim, surely lots of disabled people go abroad.
    It's nothing , not nothink.
  • Muttleythefrog
    Muttleythefrog Posts: 20,662 Forumite
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    edited 1 August 2019 at 7:09PM
    parkrunner wrote: »
    Why this would affect a claim, surely lots of disabled people go abroad.
    .. because unfortunately assessors for the WCA or PIP have a great habit of extrapolation of facts to fit with what they desire which is a quick route through assessment. Not relevant in this case as the passport is unlikely to be viewed in context of such an assessment other than as ID at reception (and may not contain any information about travel in anyway)... but if a claimant was to state in assessment (or possibly in completion of questionnaire) they've gone on holiday then any number of flawed inferences could result. Many many examples have been seen on MSE.. I've seen many more elsewhere... I've given some from my own cases. Hobbies are a classic example... I recall one poster said they used to go riding horses before their health deteriorated... this translated as 'goes horseriding' which then was used to eliminate applicability of descriptors in many of the activities. HCPs can be highly imaginative under the pressure of time! I ended up with "many friends" after describing the one I has infrequent contact with... I ended up 'having no difficulty going out shopping' after stating I did my shopping online.
    "Do not attribute to conspiracy what can adequately be explained by incompetence" - rogerblack
  • bspm1
    bspm1 Posts: 332 Forumite
    zaksmum wrote: »
    Nephew is disabled and wheelchair bound. 3 years ago he went to France for 4 days with his mother. He booked special assistance at the airport and of course could not do any walking.

    He has been on DLA for 27 years but now has to apply for PIP.

    He is worried that if he takes his passport for ID purposes, it may be scanned and if so, DWP will find out about the trip to France.

    He would rather not mention that as he knows it may be misinterpreted and indicate he is ok to go on holiday therefore nothing wrong with him.

    So are DWP likely to scan his passport?

    No one can 'scan' passports unless they have a border patrol scanner, something I am pretty sure neither the DWP or the Assessment centre receptionists will have. They will look at the picture for identification purposes only.

    Also it does not matter if he went on holiday four years ago, one year ago or last week, it is immaterial.
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