Government VERIFY service hits teething troubles with DVLA checks

The Prankster had occasion to try out the new(ish) VERIFY service from the Government, which proves you are probably who you say you are.

Unfortunately, whenever he tried to register with the various services (such as Barclays and Royal Mail) they told him he didn't exist. This was very frustrating, as The Prankster both pinched himself and felt it, and also passed the "I think therefore I am" test.

After some investigation, it turned out the problem was with the DVLA driver licence check. Whenever The Prankster tried to pass this, he failed. This was also frustrating, because The Prankster had his driving licence in front of him, so was certain he was entering the details correctly.

The Prankster called the DVLA driving licence department. He spoke with a friendly lady who confirmed he was entering his details correctly, but was sadly otherwise unable to help as she was unaware that the new VERIFY service existed or how the identity services mapped into the DVLA to check data. She was able to provide a code to allow other people to check the Prankster's licence, but this was not useful.

The Prankster next tried the identity services helplines and this proved more fruitful. Another friendly lady informed him that there was a teething problem with the new service.

Early on the Prankster was required to confirm his address with the identity service, which he did by providing his postcode and then selecting his address from a dropdown list, which was;

Prankster Mansions, The Street, Prankstertown, WE3 3RH

Unfortunately the DVLA had the Pranksters address on record as.

Prankster Mansions, The Street, WE3 3RH

The VERIFY computers were unable to match these two addresses up, and therefore the computer said no.

The helpful lady told The Prankster they were working on a solution, and so The Prankster hopes very much that he will once again exist in the near future.

Happy Existing

The Parking Prankster