Not able to get 3 year senior citizen railcard
THOMO
Posts: 7,447 Forum Member
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My present annual senior citizens railcard is due to expire in August and I decided I would apply online to get a 3 year senior citizens railcard as you can only apply for a 3 year railcard online and it worked out that you save £20 in total on an annual railcard. But when you apply I find you've got to have as proof of identity of your age is a valid UK passport or a UK driving licence. But I don't have a passport and I've never driven a motor vehicle, so it seems I can't apply for a 3 year senior citizens railcard to save money over a 3 year period and it also protects you for 3 years any rise on the railcard which does rise every year. Why they can't accept other forms of identity to prove your age, I just don't know. So I'm going to have to go to the railway station to renew my annual railcard there, as the website dos'nt even allow you to renew an annual railcard online without either a UK passport or UK driving licence.
Ian.
Ian.
0
Comments
No good. However ...
Senior railcard FAQ - How can I renew my station-purchased Railcard online?
It will probably allow you to enter the number on your existing card to demonstrate eligibility.
I wonder if you could register your existing railcard then renew to a 3 year one, without having to prove your age?
Or you may be able to renew online, for a 1 year card, then get the 3 year next year.
But would that work or is it still going to want the proof to even link your station bought card?
There's always Senior railcard - Contact us
A human might be more flexible, perhaps using the electoral roll to verify your entitlement.
from above
problem with this is you need to "Login and Manage your Account"
and guess how you get an account, by proving your identity with a passport or driving license
Other organisations have so many other ways of proving you identity and Age. But not Network Rail.
Ian.
My passport is refused because it expired last year.
My paper driving licence is valid til 2033 but does not have a photo and so is not acceptable.
My NHS card does not have a photo.
My original birth certificate does not have a photo.
My National Insurance Photocard is not accepted by anybody.
Utility bills, bank statements, credit and debit cards being on the electoral register are only supporting evidence.
I have 'gotten away with it' so far. But people are sucking their cheeks in and making me feel like I owe them when they agree to accept multiple proofs of my identity, even when it doesn't strictly meet their rules.
Also note that one organisation's rules are different from another.
Sometimes I have no problem whatsoever, other times I almost have to beg for an exception.
It's ridiculous.
Which is why I added the last bit with the phone number.
There is no other form of ID which would work in the same way. Which is why the alternative is to go to a train station where a person can verify your identity based on any other document you provide.
The discount for the online only 3 year rail card reflects the lower overheads in managing online applications
It's not all a big conspiracy, it's just good commercial practice based on the data / technology that Network Rail has access to.
Tendring District Council - Apply for a Senior Railcard
My worst time in this respect was just after my house burned down. I came out of hospital and really did need some money. The insurance company gave us an immediate payment, since we had no possessions, into our bank account. Since I had no debit card or cheque books, the bank said we could only draw money by turning up with a passport or driving licence.
In the end I managed to obtain a lavish £150 by the time-honoured method of turning up swathed in bandages and weeping uncontrollably at the counter.
It's also extremely irritating. There's a virtual collective psychosis about ID provenance these days, and the only ones being put through numerous pointless hoops, are the genuine applicants. Massive overkill.
Tried that, or at least my partner did last year, nothing doing.
Apparently everyone has a driving license these days, according to the "helpfull" person on the end of the phone.
Course if they simply issued the railcard and opened an online account when you where there in person the first time. After all you give them proof of ID and you enter your email address on the form which they enter into their terminal, so why can't they take the next step.
But no.
Just a thought but maybe also try Age UK or one of the national newspapers. Put the cat amongst the pigeons by applying for a provisional driving licence and see what happens. I believe a provisional photocard licence is as valid as a full photocard licence to verify identity.
It's a shame you didn't post a couple of months earlier as that would have given you more time to effect a solution. The bureaucrats are all in holiday mode now.
As far as I can see the rules are what they are because realistically, and reasonable, little else securely proves your age.
Anything without a photo is of course useless, could be anybody.
It's not some sort of over zealous bureaucracy, it's common sense.
I haven't been abroad for about 6 years but I still keep an active passport at all times because it's bloody useful to have and at £70'ish for 10 years it's not exactly expensive.
I'm alright is it Jack? Not only do we have stories about eat or heat for those on low incomes (thankfully it is summer now) but your solution is everyone should have a £72.50 passport+photos
Do you have any idea what it is like to be skint?
£72.50 per ten years, that's £7.25 per year if you divide it out.
I'm on a low income, certainly under the <15k a year mark, and I can afford a passport.
I just don't buy into your point. Passports aren't a luxury commodity. It's much cheaper to own a passport than a TV with yearly £145 TV licence, which even the poorest of the poor seem to have.
Giving your age away there.
You been paying your taxes OP?
When did you last buy a property? We are going through our mortgage at the moment and have to supply photo ID, and had to the last time 5 years ago too. What are they accepting if you dont have this?
Both our passports have expired and we are not going to go abroad (pets) so I am hoping that expired passports will be ok although we do both have driving licences too.
Very true, the uk government scrapped the idea of ID cards for every person of the uk, so there is no legal need to have to prove photo ID in the uk. As there has never been a law passed in parliment that all people of the uk MUST have photo ID. And i am the same as you dont drive or have a passport
Yes I have a senior citizens bus pass, but for some reason Network Rail say they can't accept that as ID online.
Ian.
How can you possibly 'divide out' the cost of a passport? If you need a passport you have to pay the lot, not £7.25 and a promise.
Ian.