Sheffield student admits to losing ID and phone TEN TIMES in one year on nights out

Sheffield Hallam University student Vicki Beavers, now 23, lost her ID and phone TEN TIMES in the space of one year – and her carelessness has become a running joke amongst her friends and family

According to a recent survey by TOTUM, the UK’s number one student discount card and app, a quarter of UK students – 24 per cent – have lost their ID at least once, with 20 per cent turning to the bank of mum and dad to replace it.

Vicki - who studied Accounting and Finance and is now training to be an accountant for Bupa Care Services - is just one of them, having lost her passport and driver’s license on multiple occasions in the last year alone.

“I’ve lost my passport once, my TOTUM card once and my driver’s license about eight times just this year!” Vicki, from Warrington, confessed.

“When I lost my passport, I’d somehow left it at the airport at some point between the plane landing and grabbing my luggage.

“I didn’t even realise until I got home! So I rang the airport and they said I needed to bring proof of ID in order to claim it back - but my only form of ID at the time was my passport! It was a nightmare to sort out.

“I also lost my driver’s license once on a night out with friends in Preston so I ordered a new one. I then got a letter through the post a few weeks later to say they’d found my original license in the club bin! God knows how it got there.”

Vicki’s tendency to misplace her belongings started getting worse when she turned 18 and began going out - her clumsiness nearly ruined her 18th birthday celebrations.

“I remember the night I turned 18 I was so excited to go out with my friends but of course, I lost my ID. I got turned away from every club!

“I was having another bigger celebration a few nights later to make up for it and I had to beg my mum to let me take my passport out instead. We were due to go on holiday a couple of days later so you can imagine her response, given my track record!”

And it’s not just her ID that Vicki tends to misplace. Her phone gets the brunt of it as well.

“I decided to get a card holder phone case where I could keep my ID at all times but then I just started losing my phone instead - and the ID along with it!

“Luckily there’s been a few times where I’ve used Find My iPhone and I’ve been able to track where I’ve left it, but other times they’ve both been lost for good.

“I once lost my entire bag with my phone and all three forms of ID in it, so I ordered replacements of everything. Weeks later I happened to log into my old Facebook account and someone has used my ID to find me and had messaged to say they’d found my bag! I couldn’t believe it - after I’d forked out to replace everything.”

While Vicki’s clumsiness is a source of laughs for her friends and family, she warns there are also some more serious implications of always losing your stuff.

“I got a letter from the police once saying that someone had tried to use my ID - they must’ve found it somewhere and then tried to impersonate me. Luckily, nothing more came of it but there’s all sorts that people can do with your details these days, especially if they get hold of a passport.”

Vicki confesses she’s spent hundreds of pounds just this year replacing all her lost belongings, but says the TOTUM PASS ID card is the most convenient and affordable to replace.

“It’s cheaper than trying to replace your passport or driver’s license! It’s £14.99 and you get a bundle of national and local discounts, an International Student Identity Card, and the new PASS ID all in one. Maybe I won’t actually lose it this time!”

Despite her track record, Vicki argues that every group of friends has to have a ‘clumsy one’.

“I guarantee every group has at least one person that’s notorious for always losing their stuff - I’m that person! The girls are always teasing me for it, but some of them aren’t much better!

“A friend of mine lost her driver’s license five times so she gave up and started using her passport. Of course, she lost that as well, paid £100 to replace it and then the original one turned up again.

“Maybe we’ll eventually grow out of it, but if this year is anything to go by, I can’t see it happening any time soon!”

With Fresher’s Week looming for thousands of new students across the UK, the study reveals that parents worry more about children losing important belongings at uni than about sleep deprivation, poor diet, money troubles, or drinking too much.

A quarter of UK students have lost their ID at least once, and 1 in 5 expect their parents to replace it.

Flushing passports down the toilet, taking laundry bags out with the weekly rubbish, and jamming travel cards into phone boxes are amongst the most bizarre excuses for lost belongings.

Cash, keys, travel cards, passports and driving licenses, debit cards and even shoes are amongst the many items that students lose every year, the study has revealed.

Disgruntled parents say that alcohol is to blame, with 41 per cent labelling their child as sensible unless they’ve had a drink, and one in four – 26 per cent – admitting their child is always getting themselves into trouble. 40m per cent of students who have lost an ID confess to having done so on a night out.

A third – 27 per cent – have lost their ID in their own home, while another third have left it on public transport. Sixteen per cent insist their ID was stolen rather than lost.

Sarah Bottomley, director of marketing and brands at TOTUM, said: “Students face an increasingly busy lifestyle and, for many, it’s their first time away from home, so it’s no surprise that they’re often losing important belongings and turning to mum and dad for help.

“Losing ID, phones, debit cards and keys is not only an inconvenience and money down the drain, but it can also have serious security implications, leaving students vulnerable to identity fraud and bank hacking.

“We wanted to create a new ID alternative with modern innovations and the student at the very heart, prioritising convenience and affordability, and providing the best possible combination of benefits to make their lives easier.”

Top 10 student worries when going to university/college:

Not making friends (67%)

Not doing well on the course (64%)

Spending too much money (44%)

Not enjoying the course (43%)

Being unhealthy (29%)

Not knowing where to go for help (21%)

Having to look after themselves (17%)

Finding their way around a new city (14%)

Losing important belongings (14%)

Not knowing how to find out what’s on at their university/college (11%)

Top 10 parenting worries about their children going to university/college:

They will lose important belongings (26%)

They won’t sleep properly (26%)

They won’t go to lectures (23%)

They will drink too much (22%)

They won’t eat properly (19%)

They will struggle to find out about things at university (18%)

They won’t enjoy their course (17%)

They won’t make friends (16%)

They will spend too much money (14%)

They won’t do well on their course (11%)