Spike in claims to blame for passport delays, FedEx says

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FedEx criticized a spike in passport applications for failing to deliver documents to travelers on time.

The company said that as restrictions on overseas travel were slowly removed, passport applications increased.

The company’s subsidiary TNT has an exclusive contract with HM Passport Office (HMPO) worth £ 77million over three years.

But on Wednesday, the Times reported that it was struggling to reach customers on time, even if they had paid for express services.

“As Covid-19 restrictions have continued to ease, HM passport applications have increased. This has resulted in a significant increase in the number of items to be delivered through our dedicated HMPO network, ”said FedEx.

“For some customers, this has resulted in an extended delivery service compared to what would normally be a two-day service. “

A petition to investigate the due diligence carried out on TNT prior to contract award and the reasons it was not deprived of the service gathered 233 signatures on Change.org.

The organizer of the petition wrote: “Many have had to cancel their travel plans as a result and have lost hundreds if not thousands of pounds.

“Unlike many other couriers, TNT doesn’t seem to provide real-time tracking, and you can’t provide delivery instructions either.

“People have experienced many unsuccessful delivery attempts, others have seen their delivery dates continually pushed back with no end in sight. Some have even lost their passport or the supporting documents for their TNT application.

FedEx added, “We fully understand the importance of these shipments to our customers and are taking additional steps to ensure prompt delivery by adding additional resources to UK operations.

“We also work closely with HMPO to ensure recipients are aware of potentially extended delivery times.

“We are also aware of some additional customer reported issues related to missed deliveries and continue to work closely with HMPO to resolve them.

“We apologize for any inconvenience caused.”

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