Martin Lewis, the Money Saving Expert, appeared on ITV’s Good Morning Britain today.
The financial expert warned of a shock change to passports which has taken members of the public unawares.
Filling in presenters, the journalist seemed incensed by changes that went unannounced.
The financial journalist revealed he has been contacted by people who have noticed changes when renewing their passport.
He told Susanna Reid: “When they renewed their passports they expected to have up to nine months of their old passport transferred.”
However, this was not the case, causing travel problems for some.
Martin and his team got in touch with the government, but he revealed: “The Home Office would not give us an official response, it would not talk to us.
“However, customer service people are saying this changed on the 10th of September.
“It is outrageous that is hasn’t been announced.”
Martin told the presenters that in effect passports don’t last 10 years anymore, it’s nine and a half years.
So is this due to Brexit negotiations? Martin seemed to think so.
He said: “We think it’s not un-coincidental this happens over the Brexit period.”
“It may be done to stop people keeping those passports for ten years after Brexit.”
He told viewers the bottom line is: “If you renew your passport now you won’t get those six months.”
He added: “ Since I’ve Tweeted the story out I’ve had lots of people say yes this happened to me.
“This is not something you announce three days after you’ve done it.”
The move could see travellers turned away from flights, as certain countries expect travellers to have had a valid passport for over six months.
Martin recently revealed how to get cash compensation for delayed flights.
Sadly there’s little you can do to repair a holiday ruined by flight delay or cancellation (eg from a strike like Ryanair’s) but many are entitled to up to £550 per person compensation. In fact this applies even for delays as far back as 2012.
