TapIdentity Verification

Banks are making it very difficult to open accounts these days—something to do with money laundering they say. One of the things that they may ask for is your National Insurance Number. Don’t give it to them! According to a Direct Government webpage

The only people you should ever give your NI number to are:

  • HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC)
  • your employer
  • Jobcentre Plus, if you claim Jobseeker’s Allowance
  • your local council, if you claim Housing Benefit

Entitlement to many benefits depends on your National Insurance contribution record (see ‘Benefits that depend on NICs’ below) so it’s very important not to give your number to anyone else.

Another favourite idea is to put on record some significant questions and your answers so that when you telephone them they can repeat these questions back and so prove that you are who you say you are. This can be very dangerous if the answers to these questions become known (and they are not very imaginitive). The solution is to lie. They will never know if your mother’s maiden name was Smith, Jones or Robinson.

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