Can't afford new passport

Vectis

rufuschucklebutty said:

I live on a War pension and Universal credit pays my rent , there is no spare money for £110 to renew my passport which is my only ID suitable for banks, forms and benefits ect.

How can there be a situation where you need ID to function in life but you can't afford it ? 

Let's go right back to the beginning.

The op receives a war pension, and UC pays their rent etc. Given that they're already receiving UC, why are they saying they need id in the form of a passport to claim benefits? Why are they also saying they need a passport for banking? Presumably they will have had a bank account already, so why the need for a passport now?

As others have pointed out, there's plenty of other forms of id which would cost less than a passport or are free.

I think the op is just moaning about the cost of a new passport, and this has nothing to do with id etc, which is fair enough if it's just venting as this is the right forum, but I think the op has over-complicated the moan by introducing other elements which aren't relevant.

Best to just take it as a moan about the cost of passports and leave all the other nonsense aside.

Pollycat

Vectis said:

rufuschucklebutty said:

I live on a War pension and Universal credit pays my rent , there is no spare money for £110 to renew my passport which is my only ID suitable for banks, forms and benefits ect.

How can there be a situation where you need ID to function in life but you can't afford it ? 

Let's go right back to the beginning.

The op receives a war pension, and UC pays their rent etc. Given that they're already receiving UC, why are they saying they need id in the form of a passport to claim benefits? Why are they also saying they need a passport for banking? Presumably they will have had a bank account already, so why the need for a passport now?

As others have pointed out, there's plenty of other forms of id which would cost less than a passport or are free.

I think the op is just moaning about the cost of a new passport, and this has nothing to do with id etc, which is fair enough if it's just venting as this is the right forum, but I think the op has over-complicated the moan by introducing other elements which aren't relevant.

Best to just take it as a moan about the cost of passports and leave all the other nonsense aside.

As I posted above....
Nothing to see here.
Just move along.

rufuschucklebutty

My moan was more to do with the essential document everyone should have but there being no subsidy or reduced fee for those on benefits , why does it cost £95,  which must be mostly for admin when they seem to enjoy making as much admin as possible for my benefits claim, the government love admin. 

Shouldn't a passport be free to all citizens ? 

Pollycat

rufuschucklebutty said:

My moan was more to do with the essential document everyone should have but there being no subsidy or reduced fee for those on benefits , why does it cost £95,  which must be mostly for admin when they seem to enjoy making as much admin as possible for my benefits claim, the government love admin. 

Shouldn't a passport be free to all citizens ? 

Why do you think that everyone should have a passport?
I need a passport to travel so don't begrudge paying the fee.

You apparently need some form of ID - but as pointed out above, it doesn't have to be a passport.

Ask your MP why a passport costs £95.

As for your benefits claim, other posters have suggested alternative means for obtaining ID.

molerat

All this talk of "other ID" doesn't cut it, there are only 2 forms of ID that are universally accepted and that is a driving licence which may not be available to many due to medical issues and a passport.  Other IDs may or may not be acceptable depending on the whims of the organisation concerned. Whilst on the subject of ID I went to apply for this newly promoted veterans digital ID. As they cannot use the information already held !! I submitted my photograph, the very same one successfully submitted for my physical veterans ID and my driving licence, and got a "does not meet the requirements" push back.  So goalposts seem to be moving around at the whim of whoever is in charge of a particular project.  So much for "joined up government".

unforeseen

molerat said:

All this talk of "other ID" doesn't cut it, there are only 2 forms of ID that are universally accepted and that is a driving licence which may not be available to many due to medical issues and a passport.  Other IDs may or may not be acceptable depending on the whims of the organisation concerned. Whilst on the subject of ID I went to apply for this newly promoted veterans digital ID. As they cannot use the information already held !! I submitted my photograph, the very same one successfully submitted for my physical veterans ID and my driving licence, and got a "does not meet the requirements" push back.  So goalposts seem to be moving around at the whim of whoever is in charge of a particular project.  So much for "joined up government".

I had the same problem when trying to get the digital version. 
Perversely if you apply for a digital one at the same time as the card version then they use the same photo for both. 

Murphybear

molerat said:

All this talk of "other ID" doesn't cut it, there are only 2 forms of ID that are universally accepted and that is a driving licence which may not be available to many due to medical issues and a passport.  Other IDs may or may not be acceptable depending on the whims of the organisation concerned. Whilst on the subject of ID I went to apply for this newly promoted veterans digital ID. As they cannot use the information already held !! I submitted my photograph, the very same one successfully submitted for my physical veterans ID and my driving licence, and got a "does not meet the requirements" push back.  So goalposts seem to be moving around at the whim of whoever is in charge of a particular project.  So much for "joined up government".

I’ve always found that pensioners  bus passes are accepted.  They  have a photo on them 

Pollycat

Murphybear said:

molerat said:

All this talk of "other ID" doesn't cut it, there are only 2 forms of ID that are universally accepted and that is a driving licence which may not be available to many due to medical issues and a passport.  Other IDs may or may not be acceptable depending on the whims of the organisation concerned. Whilst on the subject of ID I went to apply for this newly promoted veterans digital ID. As they cannot use the information already held !! I submitted my photograph, the very same one successfully submitted for my physical veterans ID and my driving licence, and got a "does not meet the requirements" push back.  So goalposts seem to be moving around at the whim of whoever is in charge of a particular project.  So much for "joined up government".

I’ve always found that pensioners  bus passes are accepted.  They  have a photo on them 

I've used my pensioner bus pass many times as ID.
Collecting parcels from various places including Royal Mail sorting offices.

But I guess the OP isn't pensionable age.

molerat

Murphybear said:

molerat said:

All this talk of "other ID" doesn't cut it, there are only 2 forms of ID that are universally accepted and that is a driving licence which may not be available to many due to medical issues and a passport.  Other IDs may or may not be acceptable depending on the whims of the organisation concerned. Whilst on the subject of ID I went to apply for this newly promoted veterans digital ID. As they cannot use the information already held !! I submitted my photograph, the very same one successfully submitted for my physical veterans ID and my driving licence, and got a "does not meet the requirements" push back.  So goalposts seem to be moving around at the whim of whoever is in charge of a particular project.  So much for "joined up government".

I’ve always found that pensioners  bus passes are accepted.  They  have a photo on them 

If you had highlighted the whole relevant bit ..........

sheramber

molerat said:

All this talk of "other ID" doesn't cut it, there are only 2 forms of ID that are universally accepted and that is a driving licence which may not be available to many due to medical issues and a passport.  Other IDs may or may not be acceptable depending on the whims of the organisation concerned. Whilst on the subject of ID I went to apply for this newly promoted veterans digital ID. As they cannot use the information already held !! I submitted my photograph, the very same one successfully submitted for my physical veterans ID and my driving licence, and got a "does not meet the requirements" push back.  So goalposts seem to be moving around at the whim of whoever is in charge of a particular project.  So much for "joined up government".

Was it taken in the last month before applying?