UK Passport Delivery via Royal Mail

k2150

I applied online to renew my expired passport. When the new UK Passport arrived, it came via normal 1st class mail with the word "PASSPORT SERVICE" printed boldly on the envelope, no signature was required, and pretty obvious to anyone what was inside. My supporting documents i.e. my OLD PASSPORT arrived a week later, hand delivered via courier and required a signature. I'm thinking it should be the other way around ?

benjus

Are you sure the new passport was delivered by Royal Mail? Was it stamped or franked?

The passport service uses both private couriers and RM Special Delivery to deliver new passports. The couriers they use do not generally require a signature, but should have taken proof of delivery (e.g. a photo of your front door) in case of any disputes. IIRC the supporting documents are normally returned by normal Royal Mail unless you paid extra with the application.

k2150

The new passport arrived with my normal 1st class mail it was franked not stamped, dropped through my letterbox no signature required.

The support documents, old passport, came by via DX Courier service and required a signature.

InsideInsurance

k2150 wrote: »

The new passport arrived with my normal 1st class mail it was franked not stamped, dropped through my letterbox no signature required.

So you are saying you dont know if there was any photos of your door or such taken when they dropped it through your letterbox?

k2150

What I'm saying is the new passport was delivered by royal mail, it dropped through my letterbox as an ordinary 1st class letter along with my other mail.

One week later I received my UK passport support documents, this is normal procedure they don't send out the new passport and support documents together.

What suprises me is that the Passport Office seem to give priority to my support documents which they sent via a courier, over the new passport which they sent via regular mail.

benjus

k2150 wrote: »

What I'm saying is the new passport was delivered by royal mail, it dropped through my letterbox as an ordinary 1st class letter along with my other mail.

What I was trying to ask is: how do you know it was Royal Mail that delivered it? Were you there when it arrived? Did the packet have a Royal Mail logo stamped on it? Or did you come back home, find it with the normal post, and assume that RM delivered it?

dzug1

Maybe (and only maybe) there is a blanket policy that support documents, which may include birth certificates and the like, are sent by courier in that they can be difficult to replace. And too complicated to decide whether the particular documents merit courier or not


Whereas a new passport is - by the passport office at least - 'easily' replaceable

k2150

dzug1 wrote: »

Maybe (and only maybe) there is a blanket policy that support documents, which may include birth certificates and the like, are sent by courier in that they can be difficult to replace. And too complicated to decide whether the particular documents merit courier or not


Whereas a new passport is - by the passport office at least - 'easily' replaceable

looks like your right, I'm just reading through a letter from the courier regarding return of SUPPORTING documents, they are quite specific, I should be home to receive the delivery between 9-5, they cannot be delivered to a neighbour, I have to sign for the delivery, and that's still not enough, I have to provide proof of identity before the docs are handed over, so it seems they are far more security conscious regarding supporting documents than they are about the actual passport.

zerog

My new passport was hand-delivered by a private courier in a regular envelope and he only needed to buzz in as the front door leads to a communal area. No ID or signature was required.

He appeared to be driving his own car around, possibly with several people's new passports inside

st999

https://passportapplication.service.gov.uk/help/html/pages/70.01_02_passport_delivered_en.html?backtoPage=https://passportapplication.service.gov.uk/ips-olc/gs10_07.form

Obviously_the_best

It should definitely be the other way around. Sounds like an administrative error.