New passport arrived and cat has damaged it when posted

CattyUk

Hiya, 

Had two passports delivered today (were meant to be signed for) but they got posted through letterbox and cat had a good go at the envelope and has scratched the cover and there are two bite marks under the lion.

I rang passport office. Spoke to a guy there who didn’t seem very thorough just said yes fine. Was googling and looking at the guidance for passport staff over what is classed as damaged and it states bite marks in the cover wouldn’t be accepted.

I then rang again to see if there was as anywhere could email photo to at passport office to check if would be acceptable and there isn’t but lady I spoke to checked with manager and they said sounds like it needs replacing. 

Enclosed a photo. Would you say this would be acceptable? Not sure what to do, whether to replace now as going in October or take the risk  

CattyUk

bite marks below lion

Robin9

Looks to me no worse than normal wear and tear after being stuffed into a pocket a few time.


Cancel the cat's holiday !

eDicky

Barely noticeable, my passport's usually in a much worse state after a few years. It's the title page with photo, biometrics etc that can be affected by damage, not the cover.

Nothing to worry about, and in the unlikely event of any comment say that you cat was opposed to Brexit and had a go at the British lion...

400ixl

My passport has all of the gold writing worn off of it and I have no issues with that, so a few light marks won't make any difference. As long as the biometrics and the photo details pages are in good order you won't have any issues.

grandadgolfer

Is that it.....I was expecting big bites/chunks taken out 

lstevo13

I wouldn't worry about that. My old passport was so warn in the end that all the gold printing on the front had completely worn off. It looked like the cover was completely blank unless you got it in the right light and could just make out the embossing. Used it many times like the and never had an issue.

photome

Was expecting much worse than that barely visible damage. Mine is worse than that just from multiple trips in my pocket

CKhalvashi

lstevo13 said:

I wouldn't worry about that. My old passport was so warn in the end that all the gold printing on the front had completely worn off. It looked like the cover was completely blank unless you got it in the right light and could just make out the embossing. Used it many times like the and never had an issue.

Mine did that in about 3 years, it's valid until 2025 so no point replacing yet. Immigration have never questioned it.

That passport is completely acceptable as long as the pages (especially the photo page) aren't damaged.

cymruchris

My passport outer cover is much more worn than that and have had no problem flying all over the place prior to Covid.. I should dig it out again and go somewhere once the rush has subsided  

MalMonroe

Aw, I think that looks really cute! (But then again, I am a cat lover.) If that's the only damage, then it does look like a bit of wear and tear. 

Please ensure that your lovely cat has a varied diet, as well as distracting toys, in an attempt to avoid snacking on passports in the future. It's almost as if there was some kind of attempt to foil your holiday. 

Reminds me of that silly joke at school "please miss, the dog ate my homework". People did actually try that, too. Never worked. 

PS those small marks on the cover don't even look like bite marks. It's fine.