pension will cost me £100 to receive

flaneurs_lobster

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82165436#Comment_82165436

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82165442#Comment_82165442

The Citizen/Pass cards are useful if you want to buy booze in Tesco or get into a club.

The VAC is good for voting.

None of these are official Government-issued photo identity documents which is what is required.

Marcon

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82165452#Comment_82165452

I appreciate this and other answers are well meaning, but the 'alternatives' being suggested are quite simply not ones which are acceptable. OP has been told what is required; their MP has also been told. The choice is now theirs as to whether or not they take the necessary steps to obtain the necessary proof of ID.

elsien

The provisional driving license though is on gov.uk has an acceptable form of proof. So unless the OP has had their driving license removed for some reason. which is possible, that’s still a cheaper option.

Gonk1967

This whole ID verification thing is getting way out of hand. I understand it's for the likes of money laundering, but in the past year I've had to pay 4 times with 4 different ID agencies (or whatever they are). You have to do it when you sell a house, then again when you buy a house, then again for Companies house if you're a director!

Bloody ridiculous.

Aretnap

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82165460#Comment_82165460

It's a little unclear though exactly what he's been told is required though - he says that a passport is "the only ID that they accept that is applicable to me". If he could clarify what other options he's been given, it may be that some are in fact applicable to him. For example if he doesn't drive he may not have considered the aforementioned provisional driving licence. (That assumes of course that there isn't a medical or legal reason why he can't get a licence). 

Marcon

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82165542#Comment_82165542

Why did you have to keep paying 'different ID agencies'? You can normally provide your own proof when buying or selling a house, and verifying your ID as a director or PSC on Companies House.

It's not just about AML, but also a long-overdue attempt to curtail fraud.

Marcon

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82165518#Comment_82165518

If OP has previously held a full driving licence they can't apply for a provisional licence - but they could simply apply to update their old one. The fact that OP has said it must be a passport suggests there's a reason that route isn't possible - or maybe OP is so frustrated by it all they have misunderstood?

Aretnap

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82165518#Comment_82165518

Though as a counterpoint is reasonably likely that the OP will need to prove his identity again at some point in the future, and a provisional driving licence only lasted two years, so the passport could well prove to be the better long term investment. 🤷

zagfles

It's odd that an expired passport isn't good enough as proof of ID. You can renew a passport with no ID other than the expired passport, so if an expired passport is good enough ID for HMPO to issue a new passport why wouldn't it be good enough to prove ID for a pension?

flaneurs_lobster

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82165584#Comment_82165584

Because HMPO will also have access to other sources of official data to check for things like "Are you dead?"