That's more or less what the company are saying. I did contact them quite a lot at the beginning however I lost patience as I was being passed from one department to the next.
The company, whilst willing to pay for a replacement passport seem to be questioning my honesty re the trip ( but I've got all the paperwork to prove - travel docs, receipts, the itinery etc) as they are saying that I should have been making more of an effort to remedy the situation especially given the possibility of missing out on an expensive trip.
This can't be right, surely. My 'lax' attitude was a direct result of initial frustration of the way in which they were handling the situation!!!