This one I have to share.
My mother (long time owner of NSI products, been on voting register 60 years, been at same address for 20+ years) just got turned down by NSI when she went to buy some savings certs in trust for grandchildren.
'Not on voters register, need to provide following proof of ID'. Of course she IS on the register, as a phone call to the local council will demonstrate.
So she chased them. What they actually mean is she is not on credit reference agency databases (of course not, she never uses credit, and my father only recently died). The fact she has an NSI savers number, a tax code, is on the polling register etc. doesn't apparently count - the ultimate arbiter of whether you exist in this country is Experian or Equifax or whoever.
Presumably the NSI pay them for doing these checks? Colour me both boggled and disgusted ....