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There must be a password recovery process or people like my mum with dementia are screwed. Presumably there is also a process for getting a new one when your house has burnt down and so you need the replacement sent to your temporary accommodation. In this case the property was empty for a while so perhaps ideal for getting replacement documents sent to the address on file anyway.
Basically ID is really hard and magic cards don't help a lot. You need to establish a chain of trust via reputable people. Eg you give the conveyancer a list of references that know you personally and they actually follow then up. The referees need to be established people with a significant paper chain of their own and lots to lose if they lie. Would be awkward for day to day life but seems reasonable when selling property.
So once you have a dodgy driving licence, as happen in the house theft case, you are half way there...
An ID card that had an online check multiple times a day would be difficult to get replaced without the owner knowing as the old would be cancelled but it would be a little intrusive.