drivining licence-photo card or paper

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Tue 7 Aug 2012 10:12
drivining licence-photo card or paper - concrete

Mrs Concrete decided to join a Gymnasium. They asked her to produce two forms of ID. One photographic and one proof of address.(Why I cannot think- ID proof to join a Gym-very curious)She duly turned up with her passport and her green paper driving licence, valid until 2023. The gym operative informed her that the paper licence was illegal and she has to have a photcard licence. When questioned it turned out this operative did not know why or when this curious 'rule' came about. Mrs Concrete told her she thought she was mistaken and if it proved an obstacle she would go elsewhere. At which point the membership was granted. Is it just ill informed jobsworths spreading misinformation? I would like to know two things. Firstly, why do they need two forms of ID for memebership of a common or garden Gym? Is it now a legal requirement to replace valid paper licences with a photocard? I would like comments from anyone who has experienced this and can enlighten me. Best to all. Concrete

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Tue 7 Aug 2012 10:49
driving licence-photo card or paper - oldroverboy

Just the jobsworths I am afraid.

If you have a paper driving licence there is NO obligation to get a photocard one. Anyway, shortly, if you have a photocard license you will not get a paper counterpart. There are SOME circumstances where you will need to get a photocard, but these are quite specific to licence categories, (hgv etc) but Mrs Concrete has nothing to worry about. I recently renewed my passport, and then went to get my bus pass using the same photos, Jobsworthy in Post office you can't use those photos, your mouth is very slightly open. Trump card.. I have just renewed my passport with these photos and if they are good enough for the passport office they are good enough for a bus pass. No sir won't accept them. went to the council office , told them, and bless them they fell about on the floor laughing, (and promptly issued the bus pass). I have just bought a car for a lot of money, nobody asked me for any id, or driving licence, just paid with 2 cards and some cash, but that is different, they wanted my money...

Edited by OldRoverboy on 07/08/2012 at 10:51

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Tue 7 Aug 2012 10:55
drivining licence-photo card or paper - skidpan

The old paper driving licence is still quite legal. Me and the other half have them, mine is in tatters since it dates from my last house move in 1983. Not going to change it until I have to or until it runs out in 2027.

The new licence does have its advantages at times. When the Mrs was job hunting a couple of years ago several organisations required photographic proof of who you were at the interview. A photo driving licence was acceptable to them, other than that it was a photo signed by a Doctor, solicitor etc. Could get quite costly but we are lucky? to have a retired police officer a few doors down who is happy to sign for free.

With regard to 2 forms of ID all organisations have their own rules and normally you have to go along with them or go elsewhere.

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Tue 7 Aug 2012 12:44
drivining licence-photo card or paper - Bromptonaut

Paper license is fine for now. No requirement to change though I suspect it will come in time.

As regards ID for gym there are a couple of thoughts. Firstly, if you're paying monthly, is this actually credit arrangement for a contract of 12 months plus? Secondly, gyms tend to involve some surrender of personal privacy particularly in changing rooms. Peeping Tom should not slip in under an assumed name.

My guess is the first reason. Been a lot of stuff in the Money bit of the Gruaniad about reluctance to release customers falling on hard times from such agreements some running to 24 months. A number thought they were just paying monthly suns

Edited by Bromptonaut on 07/08/2012 at 12:47

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Tue 7 Aug 2012 22:36
drivining licence-photo card or paper - RT

The United Kingdom has no requirement to possess photo-id of any form - while many things specify photo-id there is "always" provision for other means of identification, usually involving multiple pieces of evidence for corroboration.

Both SWMBO and I have green paper licences, valid for another 7 years - we don't have current passports as we don't go abroad.

The gym concerned seem to be ill-informed jobsworths.

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Wed 8 Aug 2012 00:40
drivining licence-photo card or paper - Avant

Since we're talking about gyms, a word of warning. I often lecture on money laundering (prevention, you understand, not how to do it....) and one of the examples I give is where people join a gym, fill in a form including bank details for the subscription, and hand it to the coach who shows them round, leaving the form on a table or shelf for all and sundry to see, no doubt intending to take it to the office later.

Many of these coaches share the intelligence of the one Mrs Concrete met, and we all need to do our best to ensure that any time we give someone information, they take steps to keep that information confidential. We need if at all possible to satisfy ourselves that it's kept secure before we give it.

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Fri 10 Aug 2012 16:55
drivining licence-photo card or paper - concrete

Thanks to all who contributed. I still cannot see for the life of me why such forms of ID are required to join a gym. They do not do CRB checks to filter out perverts, I asked them. Too expensive and time consuming. Mrs Concrete enlightened the 'jobsworth' about the paper licences. Pearls before swine I'm afraid. Difficult when you have the IQ of the ambient room temperature.( jobsworth, not Mrs C ) She pays by direct debit, with a 30 day notice to quit period after 12 months. Fairly normal. A friend of mine did extracate himself from David Lloyds by showing them his redundancy notice, they then released him from the contract. Pretty good show really, very understanding. Good general advice from Avant, but I am having difficulty making the connection between joining a gym and money laundering. It would be really nice to have some to launder though, anyone got any spare!

Best to all. Concrete.

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Fri 10 Aug 2012 18:53
drivining licence-photo card or paper - RT

The Money Laundering Regulations seem to used as an excuse to be as obstructive as possible by some organisations - as Mrs RT doesn't pay income tax we keep our day-to-day savings in her name and move it each year to get the best one year bonus rate - this year we switched to Santander, usual hoops to open the account, easy to pay money in but next to impossible to get money out and heaven help you if they hear the account holder talking to anyone else during phone calls - they blocked the account on security grounds because they could hear her discussing options with me.

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Tue 14 Aug 2012 10:41
drivining licence-photo card or paper - concrete

Spot on RT. I have had problems with several organisations due to over officiousness when dealing with a very simple matter. On one occasion I actually cut up my cards in the branch and closed every account and moved elsewhere I was so frustrated. The Data Protection Act and the money laundering regulations have now joined the much maligned Health and Safety Act as a licence for incompetant, self important jobsworths to be obstructive with the convenient shield of these acts so they don't have to explain their actions. Wouldn't you just love to be the Minister for Banging Heads Together to give these cretins a real shock, and probably the sack. That's better, got that off my chest. Best to all. Concrete.

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Wed 5 Sep 2012 14:20
drivining licence-photo card or paper - Ernied

Had a similar problem with Barclays bank a while back. I needed to notify a change of address, and withdraw some cash. At the time I had a paper licence, a Digital Tacho Card - which has a photo and all of the information contained on a photo licence, evidence of my new address, bank card etc. Not good enough, they wanted a photocard licence. I was allowed to withdraw £1000 cash with no ID though - just bank card and pin No. I phoned the bank to complain and eventually was able to change my address online - after waiting some days for some sort of pass number sent by post.

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Fri 7 Sep 2012 17:49
drivining licence-photo card or paper - Armitage Shanks {p}

I can cope with security if it simple but quick, and effective. With my bank, if want to make an elecronic transer out of any of my accounts they text me a single use PIN code. Easy. I think it is the next stage from the calculator type authentication devices we use to have.

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