Passports

If you have a complaint about how we handled your passport application, please contact us.

By phone

On 0300 222 0000. The line is open from 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday, and from 9am to 5.30pm weekends and public holidays.

During office hours we will put you through to our customer service team.
Outside office hours we will ask you to explain the complaint. We will then arrange for a member of our customer service team to phone you.

In writing

Please send your letter or fax to our central customer service team as follows:

Newport customer service manager
Newport passport office
PO Box 175
Newport
Gwent
NP20 1XA
Fax: 01633 473899

When you write please give us:

• full details of the problem
• the name and date of birth of the person the passport was for
• the date the application form was sent to us
• the regional passport office the application form was sent to
• the barcode number from the application form, if you have a note of it
• the passport number, if you have one
• information so we can contact you (name, address, postcode, day and evening phone numbers, and a fax number and email address if you have these)
• the date and time of your appointment and an appointment reference number, if you visited a passport office to get your passport

By email

You can do this using the passport enquiries form.

When we get your complaint we will:

• let you know we have received it (if it was a letter, fax or email)
• investigate
• let you know what went wrong and what we are doing to put things right

We will write to you within two weeks, either with a full reply or to let you know what is happening if we have not finished our investigation.

Further action

If you have followed step one and are not satisfied with our response, or if you have a more general complaint (for example, about a policy matter) that is not related to your specific application, please write to, fax or email:

Parliamentary and correspondence management team
IPS Chief Executive's office
2 Marsham Street
4th Floor, SE Peel Building
London SW1P 4DF

Fax: 0870 336 9175
Email: hqenquiries@ips.gsi.gov.uk

If you have followed steps one and two and are still not satisfied, you may ask your member of Parliament (MP) to raise the matter with our Chief Executive or the Home Office minister responsible for us.

If you are still not satisfied, you can ask your MP to request an investigation by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (the Ombudsman). You can only do this through your MP.
The Ombudsman's role is to investigate complaints by members of the public about the way government departments and their executive agencies have treated them.

Compensation

We realise that sometimes our mistakes may cause you expense or financial loss. In these cases, you should write us a letterand include any documents that prove your claim (for example, a receipt to show a cancelled flight).

We only normally offer compensation for financial loss as a result of delays in our guaranteed (Fast Track and Premium) services.