To think it's quite hard to find proof of address these days

[lookingforthecorkscrew]

Because nobody has paper bills?

New letting agency want proof of address from the last three months, they've stated something like a mobile phone bill or bank statement.

But DH and I do all of our billing online, surely most people do these days.

Apparently my driving license isn't a valid proof of address either, it has to be a bill.

[PiffIeandWiffle]

It's OK at the start of the year, but later on when the Council Tax bill is over 3 months old it'll get tricky.

Everything else is online - even TV Licence now.

I always get slightly annoyed that my photo Driving Licence isn't good enough despite being harder to forge than a paper letter.....

[kaytee87]

How will they know if you've printed them?

Fold it in 3 as if it came in an envelope.

[Doodlebug5]

Yes - having gone through this recently it’s ridiculous. We had to get the bank to send us a statement in the post as they wanted a statement that has physically been sent to us. Everything is online now and it’s infuriating

[starfishmummy]

Zaphod its a nightmare with no photo ID. I have an old style drivinng licence and no passport. D'S who is now an adult has nothi g - he has SN so very little in his name.
I'd rather we had a reasonably priced government issued ID card for such situations.

[WhyIsThereHariboInMyWine]

This drives me barmy! The most annoying thing for me is that most bills are for me and my dp jointly but they don't even bother putting my name on there at all. I find it incredibly rude, I exist too!

On a similar note, I have a Waitrose card in MY name, not his, not jointly. It is MINE. Last year he paid for an online shop ONCE and now every single letter and email about my account is addressed to him. I complained repeatedly but they refused to fix it stating that it was automatically switched to a joint account and it was apparently too difficult to remove him.

After some further back and forth they sent me some vouchers (IN HIS NAME) then never contacted me again. They must have removed me from their mailing lists completely, all I wanted was for them to address letters about my account to me.

[Missingthesea]

Our adult son who still lives with us needs proof of his address in order to get a parking permit, but of course none of the household bills are in his name and the council now say they can't accept anything else, including his driving licence There must be lots of people in that situation!

[SistersOfPercy]

I had exactly the same issue last year when selling my late Mums house. Solicitors refused to accept printed bills. I called our energy provider who said they could send a bill, but it would cost £10 and still be a print out like I could do at home.

We bank online, my driving licence is still a paper one and at the time my passport was out of date.

Somewhere in the back of the 'post you think you might need but i'll dump it for now' box I found a TV Licence letter and one from the council tax that saved me.

[Zaphodsotherhead]

My son was sixteen at the time and needed to open a bank account (these were the days when kids got money to stay on at school!). Went to the bank him, I'd had an account there for twenty odd years but they refused to open him an account without a passport (he didn't have one) and bills in his name. I pointed out he was SIXTEEN and not paying the bills yet.

This went back and forth for several weeks. I know there are anti-money laundering regulations, but for a sixteen year old, whose mother has banked with THAT VERY BRANCH for his entire life to not be able to open an account without multiple IDs? Luckily we got a more senior person to talk to us at a bigger branch, and they opened him an account without difficulty...

[DianaPrincessOfThemyscira]

All my bills are online now, including water and council tax.

I agree this is ridiculous. And also, why isn’t your driving licence ok when it is for the majority of mortgage lenders?

[cardhu]

I make sure I keep a decent selection of my bills as paper bills, so it's never been a problem to find proof of address for me. I've needed it for so many things - mortgage, council documents, investments - so it seemed short sighted to go paperless as it's more hassle than it's worth.

I've also always made sure my DCs had bank accounts, passports and driving licences as soon as they were eligible, as it's required for ID in many situations now. None of them drive (and I don't either) but provisional licences are really useful as ID (but you still need recent bills/bank statements on top as they often need to be less than 3 months old).

[TittyGolightly]

It’s quite simple, isn’t it? They want you to prove you live where you say you do, so they want to see a document that has been through the postal system to your address. Otherwise you could move and print an online statement with an address you no longer live at!

[Zaphodsotherhead]

I understand the logic behind it, but maybe there should be some other checking policies in place that circumvent the problems people have now more and more things are going 'online'.

It's a system that was set up a long time ago, when everyone had paper bills. Maybe they thought there would be ID cards by the time everyone went paperless?

[DianaPrincessOfThemyscira]

Titty you could also produce a paper statement from somewhere you no longer live?! That’s why they have to be dated within 3 months normally.

And what’s wrong with a driving licence?

[theEagleIsLost]

It why I haven't switched to on-line statements with my bank and why we keep the bills we do get and file then away and why we've had to make sure that we both have bills with our names on.

It's not a regular ask but it's a common enough situation to keep getting paper bills for us.

[DianaPrincessOfThemyscira]

Zaphod - there is a process being put into place, I wish I could remember what it’s called! But basically, once you have been verified by eg your bank, other entities can check with them instead of you having to provide paperwork all over again.

[CuboidalSlipshoddy]

Most won’t let you just print stuff at home, they want the originals.

How do they tell the difference? I get PDFs of my credit card statement supplied on my bank website. The paper versions are exactly, dot for dot, the same. Credit card statements aren't supplied on watermarked paper, they aren't physically secure in any way: how would someone tell the difference?

[TittyGolightly]

Print quality.

[CuboidalSlipshoddy]

Print quality

Seriously? They're laser printed by the bank, I can laser print them just the same.

And anyway, the banks are happy to accept them anyway. Go and look at, for example:

personal.natwest.com/personal/current-accounts/what-do-you-need-to-open-a-current-account/proof-of-address-we-can-accept.html

which explicitly has sections "Where an e-statement/ e-bill or pdf of your Utility Bill/ Statement is used...", "Where an e-statement/e-bill or pdf of your Council tax is used..." and so on.

[AndhowcouldIeverrefuse]

Withit going into detail, my paper bank statements would be impossible to reproduce in a home printer.

[lookingforthecorkscrew]

I sent them scans of

My last council tax statement
My driving license
My husband's most recent bank statement, printed in branch and stamped

And let that be an end to it!

[Walrust00th]

If you are in UK the valid driving licence is pink with photo I'd and looks like a credit card. They are valid for 10 years. Green paper version no longer valid. Also need s to be in your current address. I agree proving ID for employment, rent a van, property are a nightmare. Not everyone has a passport, driving license or bills in their name

[Beetlejizz]

I keep one utility bill non-paperless for this very reason.

[lookingforthecorkscrew]

I know what my driving license looks like Walrus

[nicknamehelp]

They may ask u to take in originals as u are not meant to accept scans unless verified by a solicitor.

I train people on what documents to allow its a nightmare. Worse case is old people and photo id they often dont drive or have a valid passport!

[lookingforthecorkscrew]

Well I live 80 miles away from the letting agency so that'll be easy