Marriage Allowance: proving your identity

Jordrok

I have a question about proving identity when applying for Marriage Allowance (sorry, posted in the wrong section the first time around!).

My wife is an EEA national with Pre-settled Status (we’ll be applying for Settled Status later in the year). She has a National Insurance number.

The Gov.uk website says the applicant needs a way to prove their identity and two of the following can be used:

• your P60 – she doesn’t work and has never worked in the UK, so has no P60
• one of your 3 most recent payslips – see above
• your UK passport details – she doesn’t have a UK passport, just an EEA one
• information held on your credit file (such as loans, credit cards or mortgages) – she has had none of those
• details from your Self Assessment tax return – she’s never completed tax returns
• your Northern Ireland driving licence – she doesn’t drive and we’re not in NI anyway.

How can she possibly prove who she is? This even prompts me to ask, is she eligible at all given she’s not a UK national? There’s nothing on the website to indicate she isn’t, but given the ID they’ll accept, it makes me wonder.

The only thing I can think of is whether her records from the Insolvency Service (as a discharged bankrupt) would be of any use. Presumably she'll have a credit file (admittedly bad), she has a bank account and has a mobile phone (though she's been out of contract a while, but still, not PAYG). But that still leaves another form of acceptable ID lacking.

Are we doomed not to be able to apply for Marriage Allowance? Thanks in advance for any light anyone’s able to shed on this.

Flugelhorn

this sounds like you are trying to log in to the government gateway as this is the list of things that they ask for - my P60 didn;t have the info they wanted so that was pretty hopeless, managed on SA in the end

Reckon you will have to discuss with the help desk about what they will accept 

p00hsticks

According to this, if you are unable to apply online you can write to HMRC

https://www.gov.uk/apply-marriage-allowance

(I did think that on a similar thread recrntly someone suggested that you could apply by phone, but I can't now see that as an option.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

Try this number,

https://www.gov.uk/marriage-allowance/if-your-circumstances-change

Jordrok

Thank you everyone.

The list of ID is just on the general information pages, but I think you're right that it's what's needed for the Government Gateway.

Reading those two links, it sounds as though phoning might not be easy. I think it would mean me setting up or updating her online tax account. Plus it's never easy dealing with things on the phone (for her) from a language perspective, I always have to be on hand to speak to the operative.

It sounds as though writing is going to be the best bet, both due to the ID requirements online and also as I can help her write it. It's not going to be quick, but easier is fine. We've been married coming up to two years and it can be back-dated so waiting a little longer isn't going to be a problem.

Thanks again

Jordrok

I just thought I'd give an update, should anyone come across this thread searching for answers about this.

We wrote a simple letter from my wife on 12th August, stating that she wished to apply for Marriage Allowance (and why she couldn't do this online), stating her name, NI number, my name and NI number, our address and the date of our marriage.

Today, she got a letter confirming that the Marriage Allowance has been transferred to me and I received a separate letter with a cheque for just over £500

So as people suggested, all the ID requirements are obviously just for navigating the online systems and if you're in a similar position it's far easier to write to HMRC the old-fashioned way! Thanks again