Photo ID?

WobagUK

This is a broader issue than just bank accounts but seemed an appropriate enough place to put it.

Its becoming more and more common when signing up for things online to require a photo ID for them to identity check.  On a couple of occasions Ive got through application processes where it says I needed say an image of my driving licence, only to realise, being over 40something and having a paper driving licence that what they really wanted it for is the photo.

I dont have a passport and the gov website only seems to suggest a process for replacing a driving licence if you lose it.

Has anyone sought out a form of photo ID just so they can apply for stuff?

General_Grant

WobagUK said:

I dont have a passport and the gov website only seems to suggest a process for replacing a driving licence if you lose it.

I believe you can apply for a photo driving licence by post - see Renew your driving licence - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

eskbanker

WobagUK said:

This is a broader issue than just bank accounts but seemed an appropriate enough place to put it.

Its becoming more and more common when signing up for things online to require a photo ID for them to identity check.

[...]

Has anyone sought out a form of photo ID just so they can apply for stuff?

Depends specifically what 'stuff' you have in mind, but unsurprisingly, heavily-regulated financial institutions will generally require official government-issued photo ID, in the form of passport or driving licence.  They'll typically each publish a list of acceptable documentation on their websites, so you can ascertain in advance how (or if) to approach an application.

You might get away with less official ID for some non-financial applications though....

Sensory

The majority of countries have compulsory national ID cards, some have non-compulsory national ID cards, and the fewest have no national ID card at all (e.g. UK, Canada, Japan, Australia). With KYC/AML measures becoming more stringent as technology evolves, obtaining a government-issued photo ID document will most likely, eventually, become mandatory. Perhaps, should mandatory voter ID become law, any newly introduced form of ID would hopefully be sufficient for financial institutions, and be easier and cheaper than passports and driving licences.

p00hsticks

WobagUK said:

Yes, I finally bit the bullet and applied for a passport during the first lockdown, even though I have little intention of travellling abroad, as I was trying to administer an estate and was finding proving my ID tricky (It's been building up for a long time but this was the final straw as I had to deal with multiple organisations wanting proof of ID all at the same time).

RG2015

Deleted_User said:

WobagUK said:

This is a broader issue than just bank accounts but seemed an appropriate enough place to put it.

Its becoming more and more common when signing up for things online to require a photo ID for them to identity check.  On a couple of occasions Ive got through application processes where it says I needed say an image of my driving licence, only to realise, being over 40something and having a paper driving licence that what they really wanted it for is the photo.

I dont have a passport and the gov website only seems to suggest a process for replacing a driving licence if you lose it.

Has anyone sought out a form of ID just so they can apply for stuff?

I agree that insistence on a photo ID is becoming an increasingly common requirement for opening finance related accounts. The big problem with the new system is that normally only Passports and photo Driving Licences are accepted for this. What about people who don't have either? It seems to me that the way the photo ID requirement is being implemented may be creating an underclass of people who in future will have difficulty opening & operating bank and other financial accounts. This seems quite unreasonable.

Agreed.

The world is unfair and this is just another example. As a cause it is pretty much down the list that would have persecution, injustice and poverty at the top.

I renewed my passport purely as a form of ID as I had no plans to travel. I also acquired a photo licence when I moved house.

I have never had any issues with ID so am happy to have spent the money. I am in a fortunate position to have been able to do this. I am also fortunate to have a comfortable life.

However, I cannot ever see people being denied bank accounts solely due to not having photo ID. 

eskbanker

RG2015 said:
I cannot ever see people being denied bank accounts solely due to not having photo ID. 

If you know which banks are accepting alternatives, it would probably be worth sharing?

RG2015

eskbanker said:

RG2015 said:
I cannot ever see people being denied bank accounts solely due to not having photo ID. 

If you know which banks are accepting alternatives, it would probably be worth sharing?

I was not aware that this was universal. I assumed that there would be ways of circumventing this when attending in person.

Is it really the case that even a Basic Bank Account cannot be opened without photo ID?

PS. This appears to offer alternatives.

https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/blog/how-to-beat-id-issues-when-opening-a-bank-account

Ah, it is dated 2016.

RG2015

eskbanker said:

RG2015 said:
I cannot ever see people being denied bank accounts solely due to not having photo ID. 

If you know which banks are accepting alternatives, it would probably be worth sharing?

The NatWest link below has different, non photo ID documents for both ID and proof of address for opening an account in a branch.

https://www.natwest.com/current-accounts/what-do-you-need-to-open-a-current-account.html

BooJewels

I'm finding the same and am about to apply for a passport, largely for ID - I'm even now locked out of my Government Gateway to sort out my NI/pension because I don't have one.  I've been executing my father's estate and the process of proving ID to the conveyancing solicitor was tortuous.  My sister flashed her photo driving licence and about to expire passport and they were happy - I provided the originals of in excess of 15 documents before they would accept them.  Had the same issue when trying to register an LPA for an elderly aunt with her bank - that woman would have won gold in the 'Jobsworth Olympics'.

Whilst that in itself is infuriating, what really gets my pip is that they all publish lists of what documents they'll accept - but they simply don't honour it.  For example, they won't accept one document addressed to Mrs F Bloggs, if another one you're presenting is addressed to Mrs F W Bloggs and another to Mrs Frederica Wilhelmina Bloggs.  And they'll only accept things like council tax and water bills, for the first 3 months after they're issued - making them useless for ID purposes for 9 months of the year - I had my CT bill rejected as proof of address for being 1 day too old. The same woman rejected one DWP letter on the basis that I might be living with my sister-in-law who has the same three initials as me, so she had no way of knowing it definitely referred to me as it didn't have any names in full - because all official letters are always addressed to 'Dear Frederica', so it was suspect that this one wasn't.  My response - 'not by anyone who has any manners they're not'.

The solicitor, despite exceeding the requirements of their published list several-fold, decided that they must have something that contained all of my Christian and middle names in full and my NiNio.  She explained that all documents get a score and you need enough points to pass ID confirmation.

Sorry, I have a bug up my bum about this little gem.

RG2015

I once was forced to change my HMRC preference from online to post and then ring them up and ask for a notice of coding (to use as ID evidence).

The HMRC officer asked why and I told him for ID verification and he said he understood and that he would send a letter out straight away.

Complete nonsense.