ID made easy

Toynbee Hall’s SAFE (Services Against Financial Exclusion) project has published a new guide, detailing different ways of proving your identity when accessing various services. The comprehensive ID Guide, supported by Barclays, covers identification and address verification documents for accessing banking, benefits, health services and housing.

During SAFE’s work to support people to open bank accounts, it was found that ID was a barrier to opening accounts as people often struggle to provide acceptable ID if they don’t have a passport or driving licence.

Although different organisations set their own policies on this, there are some commonly accepted alternative documents that many people have or can get for free. Many people are unaware of the range of forms of ID that may be acceptable, such as a benefits letter or asylum seeker’s registration card.

Richard Wealleans at the Passage, who has worked extensively to assist street homeless people to access banking services, commented, "Many charities and banks have evolved specialists to address ID issues, but more general staff and their clients have become so used to the ID problem that they just accept it. So what was needed was something that tells us all exactly what ID we can use and where to get it. I think the ID guide does just that."

The ID Guide provides a quick point of reference for individuals wanting to prove their identity and non-specialist workers helping clients to access services. It covers the full range of documents that can prove your identity and address and includes a ‘quick guide’ and a jargon buster for ease of reference.

Download the ID Guide or contact idguide@toynbeehall.org.uk for a hard copy.