A potential benefit claimant was asked to send their passport and driving licence to the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) – but they said they were ‘not willing to do’ so.
Their reluctance was due to fear their documents would get lost in the post, however they were told their Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claim would not be viewed until they did.
They took to Reddit to question whether this was ‘normal’ as they looked for other ways to ‘speed things up’.
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Their post read: “Applied for PIP. And it said I need to provide two forms of ID.
“Tried to do this process online but it said for all new applicants, you have to call. So I did.
“And then they said they couldn’t verify my ID as they don’t have enough information. And that I now need to wait 14 days for a letter in the post with a code to verify my ID.
“They said I need to send the original copies of my passport and driving licence, which I’m not willing to do in case they get lost. Then and only then can my application be viewed.
“Is this normal? Is there anyway to speed things up a bit?”
One response read: “Potentially you could go into a Jobcentre Plus with your documents.
“Secondly you can go to the Post Office for certified copies of your IDs if you don’t want to send originals, unsure the cost of this but they can be used for stuff like this that require ‘original copies’.”
BirminghamLive approached the DWP for official advice and was told claimants could verify their identity in a variety of ways.
This includes over the phone, by answering Knowledge Based Verification questions on information DWP holds about them.
Identity documents could be sent via post, or people may prefer to send certified copies – further details of what is required for the latter option can be found here.
The DWP said under some circumstances, working age claimants can take documents into a Jobcentre, however, the PIP claim process did not direct customers to job centres.
Other options included a visiting officer referral for vulnerable claimants and online options at GOV.UK One Login.