I find that every task these days requires jumping through various hoops in order to prove who you are. The last few weeks have been a nightmare with 3 different scenarios having to prove your identity even though they know it is you.
My daughter when renewing her British passport for the third time had to get a chartered accountant to verify who she was. It was either a chartered accountant or a member of parliament which for some reason we should all know one personally. This delayed her renewal process because the chartered accountant had to log on and fill out a 10 minute questionnaire and also submit a copy of his passport. These are serious hoops to jump through which I consider road blocks designed to slow the process down.
This week I was busy claiming an policy that came due and it involved having to fill out various forms which is the easy part and then having to have my passport copies verified at the police station. The payment that is due is going back into the same bank account that has been paying the monthly debit orders for the last 20 years. I can understand all the security checks if the policy was going to a different name or being paid into a different bank account. Common sense should tell you I am the person who has been paying this and the same person who is now claiming what is owed.
The same story with my National Insurance number required by the people who pay me monthly. They have it on record because I see it partially on the pay slips even if 4 of the digits are x'ed out for security reasons. When I had to phone an external agency to help me retrieve the number she queried why I didn't just ask the payroll people. When I told her they would not hand over the number she said no worries and someone who I have never had any dealings with before can get hold of it within 7 days. There was no funny questions and all she required was a copy of my passport via a photograph. No verification process by having someone else tell them I am who I say I am which is ludicrous.
I do understand that the entire system is under scrutiny due to identity theft along with the hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants wanting your passport. In Calais the one year we had our passports stolen and I managed to get mine back, but apparently these are hot ticket items where most stolen passports are used to try and get someone into the country by using and doctoring that same passport.
The system which used to run fairly smoothly with the occasional hiccup is no longer a simple process and I do think it has been designed this way on purpose. Firstly it creates more jobs due to having added many more steps and the people employed are not exactly the smartest. Surely some type of security steps over the phone would be far easier and more efficient.
Last week both my children's bank accounts were compromised when the bank had a data breach . My daughter managed to secure her funds, but my son had money removed which the bank will now reimburse. I checked and there has been no news of this by FNB which was the bank involved.
The digital world should be making things easier and not harder yet here I am struggling to see where the improvements are. My thoughts are you can make it as efficient as you want it and on the evidence I have experienced they are making it as inefficient as possible for a reason.
