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BritIndex
12 guides

Government services & ID

GOV.UK One Login, passports, driving licences, birth certificates, council services and voter ID — and the fact that Britain has no ID card.

What to do if your HMRC account is hackedSomeone else inside your HMRC account is identity fraud, and HMRC runs a dedicated report for it. The signs, the security console …14 minverified 2026-08-06
HMRC sign-in problems and how to fix themLost user ID, forgotten password, locked account, or an access code going to a phone you no longer have. Each has a different rout…14 minverified 2026-08-06
How to apply for a UK passportOnline is cheaper and faster than paper. Digital photos fail more often than anything else, the countersignatory rules trip up fir…8 minverified 2026-07-30
How to change your name by deed pollIn England and Wales a deed poll is evidence of a name change, not the change itself — there is no register of names. Scotland and…12 minverified 2026-08-05
How to get married or form a civil partnershipGiving notice is the legal step that makes a wedding possible, and the rules differ sharply across the four nations — where you gi…12 minverified 2026-08-05
How to prove your identity without photo IDBritain has no ID card, so identity is assembled from documents rather than shown. This maps the fallback route for each gatekeepe…15 minverified 2026-08-06
How to register a birth, death or marriageCivil registration is devolved four ways, and the deadlines differ. Birth in 42 days but 21 in Scotland, death in five days after …12 minverified 2026-08-05
How to register to vote, and the voter ID rulesRegistering takes five minutes and does more than let you vote — it is what puts you on the electoral roll credit reference agenci…11 minverified 2026-08-04
How to set up GOV.UK One LoginOne Login is the single sign-on gradually replacing dozens of separate government accounts. This explains how to create one, how i…6 minverified 2026-07-30
Locked out of GOV.UK One LoginFour different problems get called being locked out of One Login, and each has a different route. This covers forgotten passwords,…14 minverified 2026-08-06
How to get a replacement Companies House authentication codeCompanies House only ever posts the authentication code, and GOV.UK says a replacement takes up to 10 working days. How to request…14 minverified 2026-08-06
How to replace a lost or stolen UK passportCancelling is the first step and it is close to irreversible — the report reaches Border Force and Interpol within a day. Search t…14 minverified 2026-08-06
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