Emergency Passports

[Butts]

Why do British Consulates charge £95 for an Emergency Passport ?

In these days of Electronic Communication this fee seems rather excessive, especially as the document can only be used once.

My idea was they were there to help people not fleece them

 

[Flamingo]

Why do British Consulates charge £95 for an Emergency Passport ?

In these days of Electronic Communication this fee seems rather excessive, especially as the document can only be used once.

My idea was they were there to help people not fleece them

Admin costs presumably.

 

[Butts]

Admin costs presumably.

£95 is more than the cost of a "Normal Passport" valid for 10 years not one journey :cry:

What the heck do we pay taxes for ?

 

[transportphoto]

Especially when some of the people who need one are the people of crime, as this programme is outlining!

TP

 

[455driver]

What the heck do we pay taxes for ?

So our intrepid leader can give it all away to other countries as "foreign aid".

 

[Butts]

So our intrepid leader can give it all away to other countries as "foreign aid".

Good point paying for these passports would be "foreign aid" of a useful variety

 

[IanXC]

I'd suggest an Emergency Passport costs more than a standard one, primarily due to the administration costs of issuing such a document, in numerous locations around the world, on demand but on a low frequency in each location.

Compare that with the production line that UKBA must operate for standard passports issued in controlled conditions, with no particular deadline.

 

[Butts]

I'd suggest an Emergency Passport costs more than a standard one, primarily due to the administration costs of issuing such a document, in numerous locations around the world, on demand but on a low frequency in each location.

Compare that with the production line that UKBA must operate for standard passports issued in controlled conditions, with no particular deadline.

Presumeably The Consulate has a budget ....what are they supposed to do have staff doing nothing all day ?

If you are talking about Bhutan or somewhere fair enough, but Spain

The Government has gone from British Airways to Ryanair - ie everything is extra !!!!

Why don't they use some of the proceeds of Air Passenger Duty to pay for these "extras" - or whats that tax for ?

 

[Clip]

£95 is more than the cost of a "Normal Passport" valid for 10 years not one journey :cry:

What the heck do we pay taxes for ?

Your taxes do not pay for your right to a passport.

Basically you are paying to go to the front of the queue, they then have to speed up the process of making sure you are who you say you are all within a very short space of time liaising with other agencies to check you out.

I dont see why, if you want a premium service, that you shouldnt pay for a premium service.

 

[Butts]

Your taxes do not pay for your right to a passport.

Basically you are paying to go to the front of the queue, they then have to speed up the process of making sure you are who you say you are all within a very short space of time liaising with other agencies to check you out.

I dont see why, if you want a premium service, that you shouldnt pay for a premium service.

If your stuck abroad and have had your Passport stolen it is not a case of choosing a Premium Service - the element of choice is removed , there is no other way of getting one or indeed getting home.

As I mentioned earlier what happens to all the APD they rake in ? - a bit could be used to help people in these circumstances.

 

[Roverman]

Would your travel insurance not reimburse the cost?

 

[snail]

£95 is more than the cost of a "Normal Passport" valid for 10 years not one journey :cry:

Not so. It's £103 for a same day replacement in the UK or €180 to renew in Europe (6 week service).

So your £95, which would be covered by most travel insurance policies, sounds reasonable to me given the amount of work involved to expedite it.

 

[Clip]

If your stuck abroad and have had your Passport stolen it is not a case of choosing a Premium Service - the element of choice is removed , there is no other way of getting one or indeed getting home.

As I mentioned earlier what happens to all the APD they rake in ? - a bit could be used to help people in these circumstances.

The consulate are not there to wipe your bottom if you can't take care of your stuff and if it gets nicked then you claim off your insurance.

APD , iirc, was just to raise revenue for nothing allocated for it, but also the idea was to get airlines to buy more environmentally cleaner planes as it is tired I think. Whether that worked I don't knew

 

[starrymarkb]

The consulate are not there to wipe your bottom if you can't take care of your stuff and if it gets nicked then you claim off your insurance.

APD , iirc, was just to raise revenue for nothing allocated for it, but also the idea was to get airlines to buy more environmentally cleaner planes as it is tired I think. Whether that worked I don't knew

APD was claimed to be to discourage flying for environmental reasons...

A year or so ago the Tresurary was claiming that less passengers flying had left a shortfall in revenue which would need to be plugged...

Make of that what you will

 

[CardiffKid]

Presumeably The Consulate has a budget ....what are they supposed to do have staff doing nothing all day ?

Yes it does have a budget and it’s paid for from my taxes and I'd rather it get used for helping those in need who suffer illness/accident or death etc

Rather than help people who've lost of hard their passport stolen.

If you actively encouraged to take out travel insurance for any trip (in the same way you are actively encouraged to take out building and content insurance) and any decent policy will cover the theft of a passport or the loss of it by some stupid young drunken tourist*

*I am not implying that you are a stupid young drunk tourist fwiw
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

So our intrepid leader can give it all away to other countries as "foreign aid".

http://www.dfid.gov.uk/What-we-do/Achievements/Results/

Sometime you don't realise just how good you've got it.

 

[455driver]

http://www.dfid.gov.uk/What-we-do/Achievements/Results/

Sometime you don't realise just how good you've got it.

Yes fair enough there is some (very) good stuff there and things like this deserve the aid, but how much of our "foreign aid" is wasted?

If we could have a complete breakdown of all the money given to all the countries and what it is spent on then that would be better, but we wont because that would just show how much is wasted and wouldnt make such good reading would it.

These statements are very selective on the information given.

People seem to forget that we are a very small island and cannot subsidise the whole world!

 

[Swirlz]

By having a higher fee, it may:

1) Encourage people to make more of an effort not to lose or damage their existing one;
2) Stop spurious/fraudulent/criminal claims for loss abroad;
3) Get travel insurance when leaving our shores.

Don't think £95 is too bad really. The cream colour ones are just as secure as a normal one.

 

[jon0844]

Sounds a fair price to me. It certainly shouldn't be subsidised in any way, and that's also what travel insurance is for.

Insurance is optional and if you took the gamble, it seems okay to accept the £95 as being unlucky - but you might still be quids in over a longer period of time.

 

[CardiffKid]

Yes fair enough there is some (very) good stuff there and things like this deserve the aid, but how much of our "foreign aid" is wasted?

If we could have a complete breakdown of all the money given to all the countries and what it is spent on then that would be better, but we wont because that would just show how much is wasted and wouldnt make such good reading would it.

These statements are very selective on the information given.

People seem to forget that we are a very small island and cannot subsidise the whole world!

I agree. The Government in their defence has said they will stop aid to India for example and I welcome that. If in a few years we are still giving aid to India I will be less than impressed.

And on the final point I agree we can't help everyone (ditto for an individual can't donate to every charity every time they ask), but do remember the UK only donates 0.7% of it's income - that's not that much in the big picture.

What's 0.7% of your annual salary and what do/could you spend it on - the answer is lots of things - some things maybe worthwhile but to other people it might seem silly.

 

[Butts]

Sounds a fair price to me. It certainly shouldn't be subsidised in any way, and that's also what travel insurance is for.

Insurance is optional and if you took the gamble, it seems okay to accept the £95 as being unlucky - but you might still be quids in over a longer period of time.

Okay so how much do you have to pay if you get stuck on Ben Nevis and The Mountain Rescue have to be summoned to assist you , or The Air Sea Rescue Helicopter is scrambled.

 

[jon0844]

That's not exactly comparable is it?

 

[Butts]

That's not exactly comparable is it?

Well it is a service provided by The Government which I believe no charge is made for, whatever the negligence of those requiring rescue

 

[Clip]

Okay so how much do you have to pay if you get stuck on Ben Nevis and The Mountain Rescue have to be summoned to assist you , or The Air Sea Rescue Helicopter is scrambled.

Howay Butts, thats not a fair comparison. AFWIW I believe the Mountain Rescue teams are funded primarily from donations - they are not a statutory government body.

Also the Air Sea Rescue is primarily either a Navy or RAF extension which obviously comes out of the MOD budget and does help the public who get into trouble but that is only by extension of them being needed for Naval or Air rescue(ones that have ditched) so its a nice add on to have wouldnt you say?


So basically - you already pay for the MOD so that service is free and you dont pay nowt if you get stuck up Ben Nevis - though you should really donate if your into climbing big hills.

 

[snail]

Okay so how much do you have to pay if you get stuck on Ben Nevis and The Mountain Rescue have to be summoned to assist you , or The Air Sea Rescue Helicopter is scrambled.

An awful lot less than if you got stuck up a mountain in a foreign country. That's why people need insurance.

Taking jonmorris0844's post a little further, think of it this way: if you make 100 trips and lose your passport on the last one it's cost you the equivalent of 95p per trip to cover that loss. Doesn't sound so bad that way.

But would you pay a surcharge of 95p per trip to cover other peoples' lost passports? That's what you are asking for. It's not currently funded so the money would have to come from somewhere.

 

[michael769]

Well it is a service provided by The Government which I believe no charge is made for, whatever the negligence of those requiring rescue

Mountain rescue teams are unpaid volunteers!

 

[Butts]

An awful lot less than if you got stuck up a mountain in a foreign country. That's why people need insurance.

But would you pay a surcharge of 95p per trip to cover other peoples' lost passports? That's what you are asking for. It's not currently funded so the money would have to come from somewhere.

I agree about needing insurance for medical emergencies etc.

You don't need a surcharge , what happens to The Air Passenger Duty collected - surely this would be a related use for it.

I'm not saying there should be no charge at all , but just a token one like £25 or something.

 

[ainsworth74]

APD as far as I'm aware goes into the main UK income pot, meaning, that it's spent on everything from pencils to aircraft carriers. Basically if you wanted this to have only a small charge such as £25 you'd need to find from somewhere else the remaining £70 to cover the costs because it isn't in the budget at present, and the budget is over-subscribed for things to fund. Alternatively people could (should) get travel insurance which will cover the cost of getting an emergency passport and a lot of other things.

 

[jon0844]

We pride ourselves for having an NHS service that is free for users, even if we all pay in our taxes.

Any one of us could have an accident, heart attack or other illness and need immediate attention - and that's why we have the NHS.

Losing your passport is probably, for the most part, preventable and not an emergency in the same way. It's not likely to be life threatening for one.

Even in the EU where EU citizens can enjoy similar coverage, a hospital is already there and providing help to lots of people. Whereas when it comes to processing an emergency passport, there's every chance of someone not having much to do for a lot of the time.

Thus, whatever comparisons are made, for the life of me I cannot see a problem in paying the £95.

 

[Butts]

APD as far as I'm aware goes into the main UK income pot, meaning, that it's spent on everything from pencils to aircraft carriers. Basically if you wanted this to have only a small charge such as £25 you'd need to find from somewhere else the remaining £70 to cover the costs because it isn't in the budget at present, and the budget is over-subscribed for things to fund. Alternatively people could (should) get travel insurance which will cover the cost of getting an emergency passport and a lot of other things.

So APD is nothing to do with "The Environment" as was claimed on it's introduction, merely another chance for The Government sticking it's hand in your pocket yet again

 

[ainsworth74]

So APD is nothing to do with "The Environment" as was claimed on it's introduction, merely another chance for The Government sticking it's hand in your pocket yet again

HM Treasury have been pretty open that this is its primary goal, in 2011 they said:

3.16 The Government has been clear that APD is primarily a revenue-raising duty which makes an important contribution to the public finances, whilst also giving rise to secondary environmental benefits

Source

So it's pretty clear that the main aim is to raise revenue and then spend it on anything that the government currently spends money on. That it might have positive environmental impacts by discouraging travel is a purely a happy coincidence.

All this is to say that APD isn't intended to pay for anything to do with air travel (or travel in general) such as the provision of emergency passports. And were it to be changed to do so, you'd have to make up for the shortfall in revenue either by making cuts elsewhere or by raising revenue from an alternative source.