Passport complaints

Geo5

I applied for a replacement lost passport for my 16year old grandson July 23 and paid to fast track it £175. My grandson got a letter to say he had to attend the London office which he did with his parents 15th August the day my mum died. He then had to do a phone interview September which he did. He then got another letter saying he had to do another phone interview October which he missed as he was at work. We was then told this year his application was withdrawn and money lost as he didn't attend any of the interviews which he he did 2 of them. We have since paid another £85 for another passport to be told we never reported the 1st one lost which we have and have proof of doing but never received an L number..we are now in March 2024. 3 holidays lost 2paid passport applications later numerous complaints to HMPO GOV Complaints department which  i have never had a response from to now being told they want to investigate his identity we are due to go away again in Easter PLEASE HELP

eskbanker

Geo5 said:

now being told they want to investigate his identity we are due to go away again in Easter PLEASE HELP

Not sure there's anything anyone on here can do to help to be honest - what specifically have they said needs to be done, and is the ball in his court or theirs?

It sounds like it's all been a bit of a saga, but in your/his shoes I'd focus on getting the passport before pursuing complaints any further - https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-passport-office/about/complaints-procedure lists the Independent Examiner of Complaints as an interim step prior to approaching your MP.

heatherw_01

Nothing we can do really. You need to speak to them.
If they are saying he missed 2 interviews, but really he only missed 1, then you need to speak to them about that.

Sorry you are having these issues but only they can help.

I agree with eskbanker that you should concentrate on getting passport first, then complain.

As a rule generally, you should only book a holiday when you have the passport as passports can have issues that can take weeks or months.

Voyager2002

Have you contacted your MP?

smudge56

What were the interviews for?  If your grandson is over 16 and it was his very first passport he would not have been eligible for the fast track service.  If the interview was because he lost three passport within the last ten years he would have been issued a restricted passport. Only one interview would have been required for both scenarios.

Geo5

smudge56 said:

What were the interviews for?  If your grandson is over 16 and it was his very first passport he would not have been eligible for the fast track service.  If the interview was because he lost three passport within the last ten years he would have been issued a restricted passport. Only one interview would have been required for both scenarios.

His only ever had 1 passport and lost it whilst moving house

DullGreyGuy

Voyager2002 said:

Have you contacted your MP?

When we did with a passport issue they said they'd speak to HMPO and 6 months later got an email from the MP stating "attached is HMPOs response" which was just a letter to the MP saying you dont have authority to discuss this. 

Voyager2002

DullGreyGuy said:

Voyager2002 said:

Have you contacted your MP?

When we did with a passport issue they said they'd speak to HMPO and 6 months later got an email from the MP stating "attached is HMPOs response" which was just a letter to the MP saying you dont have authority to discuss this. 

That sounds very disappointing.

Personally I would have responded by asking the MP to refer the matter to the Parliamentary Ombudsman. I find it very disturbing that a government agency refuses to respond to an MP.

smudge56

When he reported the passport online the lost and stolen team would have phoned him to confirm it was him who reported it. This is to prevent malicious reports.  It was the phone interviews that confused me.  He will have to go online and report it lost again as the previous report will have been failed due to him not answering 

DullGreyGuy

Voyager2002 said:

DullGreyGuy said:

Voyager2002 said:

Have you contacted your MP?

When we did with a passport issue they said they'd speak to HMPO and 6 months later got an email from the MP stating "attached is HMPOs response" which was just a letter to the MP saying you dont have authority to discuss this. 

That sounds very disappointing.

Personally I would have responded by asking the MP to refer the matter to the Parliamentary Ombudsman. I find it very disturbing that a government agency refuses to respond to an MP.

Thankfully had managed to get the problem sorted after eventually getting the case allocated to a proper handler I could speak to on the phone rather than just messaging services that were always one way only. 

The Parliamentary and Health Ombudsman is the most useless organisation I've ever dealt with. Our complaint to them, about GP practice, took 2 years to come to a conclusion because the GP practice simply ignored them and they had no powers to do anything more. I didnt want cash compensation and when they finally did respond and admitted a number of serious flaws (eg sending medical letters to the wrong address) the ombudsman said an action plan had been put forward but if it wasn't followed they couldn't do anything unless 

Voyager2002

DullGreyGuy said:

Voyager2002 said:

DullGreyGuy said:

Voyager2002 said:

Have you contacted your MP?

When we did with a passport issue they said they'd speak to HMPO and 6 months later got an email from the MP stating "attached is HMPOs response" which was just a letter to the MP saying you dont have authority to discuss this. 

That sounds very disappointing.

Personally I would have responded by asking the MP to refer the matter to the Parliamentary Ombudsman. I find it very disturbing that a government agency refuses to respond to an MP.

Thankfully had managed to get the problem sorted after eventually getting the case allocated to a proper handler I could speak to on the phone rather than just messaging services that were always one way only. 

The Parliamentary and Health Ombudsman is the most useless organisation I've ever dealt with. Our complaint to them, about GP practice, took 2 years to come to a conclusion because the GP practice simply ignored them and they had no powers to do anything more. I didnt want cash compensation and when they finally did respond and admitted a number of serious flaws (eg sending medical letters to the wrong address) the ombudsman said an action plan had been put forward but if it wasn't followed they couldn't do anything unless 

Thank you for sharing that experience.

So much for our constitutional safeguards then.