They've lost my passport!!!

[PoshPete]

I sent my passport to a company for proof of identification - this was 4 months ago and they lost it. I avised them at the time that I was going to study abroad for a period of 1 month in July and I would need the issue sorted out by then.

 

The issue has still not been sorted, even though the company has admitted liability. I have missed out on my trip and I was unable to get any monies reimbursed through the travel company.

 

Can I claim the company for this trip as the total cost, which I have already paid, was nearly £6,000?

 

I'd appreciate any thought / advice.

[gizmo111]

I would have thought that as you had 4 months to make arrangements for a replacement and you have a joint duty to mitigate losses then all you would be able to claim form the company would be the cost of the passport and any associated costs in replacing it - eg travel, time, photos, phone calls etc.

[PoshPete]

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!!!

[poppynurse]

I'm with Gizmo on this I'm afraid - you had plenty of time to notify the passport agancy and get them to reissue. I think the best you can hope for is to recover the cost of getting a new passport.

[Ecossewarrior]

Yeah same here mate, sorry to say but if you are spending that sorta money on a trip then you should have made sure that you had plenty of time to get a new passport. When did they admit they had lost it?

[StudentInDebt]

It can take as little as a few hours to get a replacement passport. If this trip was so important to you why didn't you get yourself to your nearest passport office and get a new one issued?