Non-Delivery of a renewed passport

NCP103

Hi All forum members, I'm hoping someone out there may be able to offer some advice on an issue I'm facing. 

I was expecting my renewed passport to be delivered at the start of December last after receiving confirmation from HMPO that it was out for delivery and should be received within 48 hours:1 week later no sign of it. A check with their exclusively contracted courrier service, TNT, suggested they'd delivered it on time, their evidence: a picture of my front door. I am completely certain it was not delivered as I was in the house at the time of the claimed delivery, no post arrived and no one knocked.

A lengthy investigation by TNT after chasing them confirmed, surprise surprise, that they still think they delivered it. As their contract with HMPO does not require them to recieve a signature on delivery (for a passport!!), apparently a picture of my front door and a GPS log of the van is all that's required now. They're not even required to knock the door to see if you're in.

Coming up to 5 weeks later now, 8 calls with HMPO trying to get through to a team that can help, often waiting over an hour each time whilst at work. They don't appear to have a system in place to deal with this problem, each time I speak to immediately refers me on to another team where I have to wait for a callback at an unspecified time which on average has been a 4/5 day wait each time, only to then be referred on again: there appears to be no end.

My driving license runs out next week and I require my passport to renew. This means I can no longer go to work and my line of work as a vehicle development engineer at a car company requires me to be on site.

I've contacted my local MP, who initially showed some interest but has since gone silent. Tonight I've posted on HMPO's Twitter page but I'm clutching at straws now.

Does anyone have any suggestions?? I'm at a complete loss as to what to do now and very shortly it is going to impact my life significantly. 

N

Thrugelmir

Report the passport as lost? 

J_B

NCP103 said:

They're not even required to knock the door to see if you're in.

When one of our household had a new passport in the late summer, they did insist on there being someone at home to receive - have the rules changed?

jon81uk

Go to a post office that offers driving license photo reneweal and do it there. You only need the passport to renew online, postal and Post Office renewals can be done without.
Renew your driving licence - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Its more expensive, but means you can still work while waiting for it to arrive.

NCP103

TNT didn't even ring to warn me they were due to deliver, so no. In a conversation with them after they confirmed this. I was actually in the house at the time of the claimed delivery and no one knocked on the door.

Reporting missing might in fact be my last resort. That does mean I'm accepting liability for the loss, have to reapply for a new one and bear the cost. Last time it took 2 months to get through the process.

eDicky

NCP103 said:

My driving license runs out next week and I require my passport to renew.

I don't think so, the HMPO records of your recently issued passport are accessible to DVLA, including the photo and the option to use it for your new driving license, you don't need to present the actual passport. That's how it was three years ago, anyway, I did the whole application on my phone in minutes and the license arrived two days later.

Does your door have a letterbox for mail to be posted through..?

onashoestring

@NCP103 -You need to report as lost or stolen IMMEDIATELY  as someone could be using it to steal your identity- ( set up bank accounts / take on debt in your name using your passport as ID ) which has the potential to cause you a lot more problems than just the cost of another passport.

You don’t need to speak to anyone, you can do it online.

https://www.gov.uk/report-a-lost-or-stolen-passport

Also make a similar complaint to TNT as the courier was the last known person to have hold of your passport.

smudge56

HMPO and TNT will have conducted their investigation and since you have confirmed that the door that they have the image of is yours, it will be closed.  They deem it to be delivered and once it has gone through the correct letterbox it is your responsibility.  Could it have been picked up by another family member/child/dog? Or slipped behind something.  It is a small passport sized envelope.
Otherwise,  you will have to apply for a new passport and report that one lost.
Signatures for passport have not been required for years apart from a few postcodes and sometimes multiple occupancy residencies.

MovingForwards

Go to the post office to get your licence done. I did mine Saturday and it arrived today.

NCP103

eDicky said:

I don't think so, the HMPO records of your recently issued passport are accessible to DVLA, including the photo and the option to use it for your new driving license, you don't need to present the actual passport. 

I'm not sure how that's possible, I've been on the DVLA's online application system and it asks for your passport number, which I don't have. Were you suggesting something else?

NCP103

jon81uk said:

Go to a post office that offers driving license photo reneweal and do it there. You only need the passport to renew online, postal and Post Office renewals can be done without.

Thanks for the suggestion, I was aware that the postal method didn't require a passport. The issue is there are weeks if not months of backlog for the DVLA to get through postal applications, the DVLA readily admit this and have strongly recommended the online method. At this point it's like choosing between best of two terrible options.