National Insurance Number - Use For Identification

Use For Identification

As the UK does not have a system of personal identity cards, and not everyone has a passport, the NI number is, along with the NHS number, one of only two systems which provide almost every adult in the country with a code number. Consequently, NI numbers are sometimes used for identification purposes in other contexts which have nothing to do with their original National Insurance purpose - such as forming part of evidence of right to work in the UK. The NI card, however, is not proof of identity.

Since 2002 the National Insurance number has been required in Northern Ireland to register to vote. There have been proposals to extend this system to the rest of the UK.