Proof of adress?

[syvictoria]

The address of the marina where the person is actually living but has nothing to "prove" it. Did you overlook the part where I cautioned against falsifying official documents or anything where such proof is legally required? Primary healthcare is one thing liveaboards need physically nearby where the relative's address where their mail goes isn't usable. There's no legal requirement for proof of address, so no need for an "official" document. Practices aren't supposed to ask for proof but in practice not having some random thing to show a receptionist with a local address can block access to the primary healthcare you're paying for in your taxes. What's you alternative in this specific situation based on personal experience?

I hadn't realised that you'd meant for the marina's address to be used. Sorry, but I'm still not sure exactly what you are suggesting is okay though? As has been mentioned earlier in thread, using a non residential marina address could have unwanted consequences, and would almost certainly prove unpopular with the marina if they became aware of the situation for any reason.

I did think that proof of address was required for GPs (but not dentists) and that you had to reside within a certain radius (or catchment area) of them, but I could well be wrong?

(The above was based on having previously moved house but remained within the GP's catchment area and so they didn't require us to register elsewhere. However that was some 15 years ago and so the rules may have since changed. Or my surgery may perhaps just have misinformed me!)

 

[laika]

Sorry, but I'm still not sure exactly what you are suggesting is okay though? As has been mentioned earlier in thread, using a non residential marina address could have unwanted consequences, and would almost certainly prove unpopular with the marina if they became aware of the situation for any reason.

I did think that proof of address was required for GPs (but not dentists) and that you had to reside within a certain radius of them, but I could well be wrong?

At some marinas "unofficial" liveaboards are so above the radar the marina will charge you a hideous fee to rent a mailbox which the staff lose 20% of the mail to (DAMHITK). You just have no "proof of address". You can register with a G.P. if are living in the area and nhs guidelines explicitly say you don't need proof of address:
How to register with a GP surgery
However as I found and others have too, some practice managers ignore the rules even when you show them, demand proof of address, wont follow suggestions that they send you some mail to demonstrate you can receive it and won't sign you on as a temporary patient because you're going to be there for more than 3 months.

 

[Bru]

Vis the marina, the OP stated that they don't officially allow liveaboards

That effectively rules out using the marina address as a legal residential address. You might, indeed probably would, get away with it for a time but sooner or later it would potentially bite you up the bum

Vis GPs. The current rules theoretically allow you to choose to register at any GP practice you like, regardless of where you live if, and here's the kicker, the practice will accept you. You can even be effectively (for all intents and purposes) registered with two practices if you work away from home, have a second home etc

In reality though the problem is persuading GP practices of this fact and getting them to register you (or in my case trying to persuade my existing GP, with whom I've been for nearly 20 years, to keep me on their list - that's probably going to the next level of the complaints procedure in January)

 

[XDC]

Makes me wonder where the marina sends its invoice to.

Themselves? ?

 

[Alfie168]

Proof of adress? Walk into their office wearing a dress should be sufficient..?

Oh you mean address. ?....,,must admit I've got this palaver right now. They want a branch issued stamped copy of a bank statement......amongst other stuff. A downloaded pdf printout is not enough. I shouldn't complain if it prevents my pittance being transferred elsewhere I suppose.

 

[srm]

Responding to the OP, the simplest solution is probably to obtain an accommodation address, (such as provided by Boatmail.co.uk). Give this as a change of address to HMRC and existing bank accounts. Then use their documents to prove the accommodation address for other purposes. There is a subscription and forwarding cost involved though.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Edited to add: I doubt that a mooring contact would qualify for most official purposes, otherwise 'residential rental contract' would routinely appear on the list of valid docs, and I don't recall seeing this.

Local authority rental contracts are sometimes allowed, but not private ones. I think that's because nobody should have two LA rental contracts - the point of all this is not to prove that you have an address but to prove which address you live at. Or at least to prove that you live there some of the time, which is why I expect utility bills from a second home are OK.

If I was in your situation I would put the case that your mooring receipt is proof of your address and a utility bill.

The trouble with that is that everyone else with a mooring receipt could then claim the marina as their address too.

 

[Robin]

We are openly listed live-aboard, prior to that I set up a UK address with these folk EXPAT SERVICES They have changed since I joined in USA and now offer a choice of UK address locations, mine is an original in Haverfordwest which was accepted by DVLI, HMRC and my bank, all of which now accept my marina address. I'm also on the electoral roll at the marina address. oh and it was also accepted by the NHS. when we registered with local practice.

Most frequent problem was having a different billing address to the delivery address otherwise meaning an expensive time wasting forwarding of mail, now resolved since my bank accepts the marina address as my home.

 

[KompetentKrew]

We are openly listed live-aboard, prior to that I set up a UK address with these folk EXPAT SERVICES

They seem expensive, if you'll forgive me for saying. I think I'm using the £90 a year service from Ghost Mail

 

[DangerousPirate]

Responding to the OP, the simplest solution is probably to obtain an accommodation address, (such as provided by Boatmail.co.uk). Give this as a change of address to HMRC and existing bank accounts. Then use their documents to prove the accommodation address for other purposes. There is a subscription and forwarding cost involved though.

This is something I looked into but its 150 quid or so a year... If there is really absolutely no other way Id do it when I REALLY need a proof of adress, but I rather find a way that doesnt cost me extra money.


And to adress the repeating question of what I need it for; Many different reasons. Every now and then I want to do something and need a proof of adress. For example getting a new broker for trading. For legal reasons they need a proof of adress and dont just take the adress itself.
But also for credit cards, I look to order one for my business with some travel points for airlines as I get around quite a bit. Then there is my employer (yes I also work on the side). I do get jobs through that agency, but they nag me about a proof of adress all the time and everytime a position expires and I need a different company the exchange of "We need your proof of adress before we can give you work." "Just use the adress I gave you, it worked so far, didnt it?" "But it is mandatory for our files!" happens. Its just a pain in the ass, really is. Especially because other agencies never had a problem. And I dont remember other occassions from the top of my head but I do remember that there were other situations where there was no way around it and I had to give up on it. It simply would be a lot easier if I had that paper.

The invoices are usually paid by me in the office on every first of the month, the adress they use is my old and inactive adress. I guess if they ever send anything there it would come straight back, but they never did. And I also gave them my email, where they contact me if necessary. They are very aware of me staying on the boat but we keep the facade up. In the past I made the mistake of openly telling people I live aboard and it became a problem..

I would go to a homeless shelter and get an adress there, I did this many times before when I needed an adress, but at the moment theyre kinda shut. Atleast here in the area, I dont know about somewhere else. But Im certainly not going to hop on a train for an adress.


I dont pay any utility bills otherwise I would have used those. The electricity is provided by the marina, albeit so far I wasnt billed anyways. Maybe they dont because my boat is relatively small.

The other place where I asked for advice told me, repetively, I need to pay council tax and involve the marina and that definitely is the only way. Telling them that I dont want to anger the marina was pretty much unimportant "You gotta pay your council tax!!1!1!1!!!11!". *sigh*. And its like a 1,5k per year apparently. If anyone knows if I actually have to; Please let me know. I think its kind of ridiculous. Especially since I dont have a annual renting agreement or anything.

Oh and yeah. As I said; I go month by month as I dont want to overpay and stay too long and I am also upgrading the boat soon and sell the old one. Not to mention that I wanna sail away as soon as this covid thing is over (and no one knows how long this will actually last. Could take another 10 years, could be over in 4 months. You never really know.).

Its not a huge problem but its simply an annoyance I want to solve.

 

[Robin]

They seem expensive, if you'll forgive me for saying. I think I'm using the £90 a year service from Ghost Mail

I haven't researched others and you may e right. in my case it was set up when we still lived in USA and needed to renew my drivers licence age 70 and for our state pension/HMRC. I have found them super reliable and it suited to have a 'land' address when we first returned to civilisation, but now we are fully established liveaboards and can use the marina address, very little traffic goes via them. I do have a similar still set up in the USA so we can still order stuff for delivery from folks that will not post directly overseas. It also serves as our USA bank address (SWMBO is American and has a tiny state pension from there ) and for our still valid Florida drivers licences.

 

[KompetentKrew]

I get my post and parcels delivered to the office no probs.

Get your bank statements sent to the marina and then you can use these as proof of address for your broker and employment agencies.

All my bank accounts now allow me to change my address just by logging into the website and acknowledging a text message. Likewise you can change your address for your mobile phone's SIM, and ask them if they can post you a paper copy of your bill.

 

[KompetentKrew]

I haven't researched others and you may e right. in my case it was set up when we still lived in USA and needed to renew my drivers licence age 70 and for our state pension/HMRC. I have found them super reliable and it suited to have a 'land' address when we first returned to civilisation, but now we are fully established liveaboards and can use the marina address, very little traffic goes via them. I do have a similar still set up in the USA so we can still order stuff for delivery from folks that will not post directly overseas. It also serves as our USA bank address (SWMBO is American and has a tiny state pension from there ) and for our still valid Florida drivers licences.

Reliability is all-important - I had a nightmare with the first mailing service I used, a very cheap one, losing practically everything important that was sent through then over the course of several months. It ended up costing me a fortune.

Ghost Mail seem to be family run and they're very accommodating and helpful.

 

[syvictoria]

I would go to a homeless shelter and get an adress there, I did this many times before when I needed an adress, but at the moment theyre kinda shut.

I would imagine that the homeless shelters are perhaps a bit overstretched at present, and therefore dealing with someone's personal 'annoyance' probably isn't high up on their priority list!!!!

I'm sorry, I don't mean to judge and I don't know anything about your personal circumstances, but you do mention a business/work and stock trading, and you have a boat. You have opted to live in a non-residential marina. It's therefore surely a fact that you're either going to have difficulties proving your address, or you'll have to pay for a third party service.

 

[V1701]

Liability for council tax only if you have exclusive access to a residential mooring with planning permission. A marina berth, whether you have an annual contract or not, comes nowhere near satisfying those requirements...

 

[DangerousPirate]

I would imagine that the homeless shelters are perhaps a bit overstretched at present, and therefore dealing with someone's personal 'annoyance' probably isn't high up on their priority list!!!!

I'm sorry, I don't mean to judge and I don't know anything about your personal circumstances, but you do mention a business/work and stock trading, and you have a boat. You have opted to live in a non-residential marina. It's therefore surely a fact that you're either going to have difficulties proving your address, or you'll have to pay for a third party service.

Kinda judgy for someone who doesnt want to judge....

I may be better off than the regular homeless person but I dont see why I shouldnt get help from the homeless shelter? Its not like I have millions in the bank and go there for free food.Thats scummy behaviour, and its absolutely real. Ive seen a guy like that.
But not me. I dont do that as I dont need the help of the shelters. Not sleeping rough and being able to feed myself. But I am still homeless. I didnt have a proper living adress in 4 years and just need them to print out a paper that proves my adress... It takes them 5 minutes, doesnt cost them any resources except a little ink and a DIN A4.

So I am really sorry if my situation seems to you like I would abuse the homeless shelter or something.

@V1701 Thanks. That eases my mind. I kinda expected something like this, but the entire forum went ballistic and basically treated me like I would just try to evade taxes when I just asked the same question as here.

 

[Twin]

Guys, to use Ghost Mail, expost or any similar service in UK, one needs to provide them with a proof of address. This is a legal requirement. Catch 22.

"In some circumstances we may be required to obtain two forms of personal identification. You thereby agree to provide us with one photo identification (either a driving license, national ID or passport) and one proof of address (to be dated within the last three months from an official source such as a bank statement, utility bill or tax statement). We may also request for these documents to be certified / notarised."
Terms and Conditions - Ghost Mail

"The documents you will need to provide (either as scans or photographs) must include at least one form of photo ID, a proof of current or previous address and a 'selfie'. In all cases, two forms of ID are the required minimum."
Simple ID or identity needed for a virtual UK address

 

[DangerousPirate]

Guys, to use Ghost Mail, expost or any similar service in UK, one needs to provide them with a proof of address. This is a legal requirement. Catch 22.

"In some circumstances we may be required to obtain two forms of personal identification. You thereby agree to provide us with one photo identification (either a driving license, national ID or passport) and one proof of address (to be dated within the last three months from an official source such as a bank statement, utility bill or tax statement). We may also request for these documents to be certified / notarised."
Terms and Conditions - Ghost Mail

"The documents you will need to provide (either as scans or photographs) must include at least one form of photo ID, a proof of current or previous address and a 'selfie'. In all cases, two forms of ID are the required minimum."
Simple ID or identity needed for a virtual UK address

Oh thats just great.

 

[Robin]

I had that problem when setting up my EXpat address but was in the USA with proof of my address there that was accepted. once set up you can change things but it is needed to initially open up an account to meet money laundering rules.

 

[syvictoria]

I'm sure that this suggestion is too obvious to have not been considered before, but it doesn't appear to have been suggested previously in this thread - do you perhaps have a family member or friend who would allow you to use their address? (Ideally not a single person, as this could affect their council tax.) When we were without a UK address for a couple of years, we were very fortunate in that my mother allowed us to use her address. If geographically distant, you could use a Royal Mail forwarding service (unfortunately not free and you would need to check that there's no time limit as they are more meant for moving house, etc.), or alternatively the family member/friend could sort and forward the post on manually.