Proving I'm me!

[Si]

Cor, this is getting to be hard work. I have to prove I am me and live here. They want one of:

Utility bill
P60 P45
Financial account document
Council tax document

..and it must be dated in the last three months. But the utilities are in my wife's name, I've not left a job in the last three months and wrong time of year for P60, all my banking is done on line and it won't even let me print a statement for the last three months with my address on it, and the council tax is paid in one go - more than three months ago (and is in my wife's name).

What a PITA!

[thirdcrank]

We're going through this with Mrs Thirdcrank.

We've been married since 1967 and much of our financial stuff is in joint names. We both decided to sign up for the gov.uk online income tax system. Neither of us has a passport but we both have photo driving licences since we were 70. Verifying ID is outsourced to credit reference agencies and although I had no trouble, my wife isn't recognised. Things like the bank card for an account in joint names don't recognise her. She rang the HMRC helpline and it seems she's not the only one having trouble. She has signed up for a credit card in her own name which may help.

They place a lot of reliance on having a mobile phone but none at all on owning a house where we've lived 43 years.

[rjb]

I now make sure I have a credit card statement posted to me. Photo driving licence is an alternative. Unfortunately your photo bus pass or UK cycling card are not acceptable.
Transactions over the internet rely on one possessing a mobile phone as TC has found. This is a real problem as I don't own one as rural reception where I live is non existent. Don't get me going on smart meters which won't work here.

[thirdcrank]

Re the mobile phone, I'm not talking about the sending of a text with a code to be input on the computer to verify a transaction but the fact of having a mobile phone account being an acceptable form of ID.

[rjb]

I've found that inputting info to make an online transaction won't let you proceed without inputting your mobile number. It's very frustrating as it means they have lost my business and I've wasted my time trying to purchase from them.

[Paulatic]

We can join the club. For the first time in 5 yrs I’ve had to pay income tax. as Mrs P has no income and HMRC Lady on the phone suggested Mrs P could hand some of her allowance over to me. Just do it online she suggests
She gets a 16 digit number to create her government gateway , all going well then she has to prove who she is ! No passport, no credit history, no utility bills, not even a picture driving licence.
NI number and having lived in the same address for 20 yrs isn’t enough. She’s a WASPI so we already feel cheated out of years of pension. Next wet day we’ll have to get strong and have another go but we find these obstacles to something you’re entitled to very tiring and time consuming.

[bovlomov]

No passport, no credit history, no utility bills, not even a picture driving licence.

People have been deported for less. I take it your wife hasn't got Caribbean ancestry.

It reminds me of something the author Lesley Blanch said after her house, in France, burned down.

"The worst aspect of the disaster is the bureaucracy," she complained. "Without a passport and an identity card one does not exist in France!"

Thanks to Theresa May, it's now the same here.

[pete75]

I think it was Groucho Marx who, when asked to identify himself in a film, asked for a mirror, looked it in and said yes that's me.

Asking for a utility bill or a bank statement is a very insecure way of proving identity. With a PC and printer you can knock one up in under five minutes. Any number of utility provides have pictures of their bills on the web, easily downloaded and edited.

[Mick F]

We don't have any utility bills, though we do get sent bank statements. They're the only things we can use.

Utility bills are dinosaurs I think.

[pete75]

We don't have any utility bills, though we do get sent bank statements. They're the only things we can use.

Utility bills are dinosaurs I think.

If you are billed online you can usually print off a paper copy if required.

[Mick F]

Billed for what?

Electricity is on a key meter paid by cash.
No gas supply.
Coal is bought and delivered by the bag.
Woodburner fuelled by my hard work with a chainsaw.
Water is paid annually.
Council Tax ditto.
No pay statements other than an annual P60.

[softlips]

No passport, no credit history, no utility bills, not even a picture driving licence.

People have been deported for less. I take it your wife hasn't got Caribbean ancestry.

It reminds me of something the author Lesley Blanch said after her house, in France, burned down.

"The worst aspect of the disaster is the bureaucracy," she complained. "Without a passport and an identity card one does not exist in France!"

Thanks to Theresa May, it's now the same here.

All this came in years before Theresa May became PM!

[meic]

You mean while TM was only Home Secretary?

[Paulatic]

Re the mobile phone, I'm not talking about the sending of a text with a code to be input on the computer to verify a transaction but the fact of having a mobile phone account being an acceptable form of ID.

If you want to settle here From 22nd of October that evidence has been dropped https://www.gov.uk/guidance/eu-settleme ... -residence

[bovlomov]

You mean while TM was only Home Secretary?

Yes. She was the architect of the 'hostile environment'.