I wasn’t allowed on flight to Spain — because my passport is more than 10 years old

Dear Sally

WE BOOKED a week’s holiday with TUI to Albir in Spain to attend a friend’s 60th birthday party, travelling on May 16.

When checking in at Gatwick, my passport was pronounced out of date, with the expiry showing September 10, 2023, and I was not allowed to fly. It was issued on March 10, 2013. It seems passports must have been issued no more than ten years before the date you enter the country and valid for at least three months after you plan to leave the EU.

I complained to TUI that the advanced passenger information form I completed before travel accepted my passport information — even giving it a green tick, which I’d assumed was approval to travel.

No passport issue date was requested. I am disappointed with TUI, because the point of booking through a travel firm should be that it ensures all aspects of a booking are correct. We spent £1,200 on the holiday — please help us.

T. D., Peacehaven, E. Sussex. The ‘ don’t forget your passport’ message isn’t quite enough these days. Your experience is a stark warning that even examining the expiry date may not be adequate.

hM Passport Office says travellers wishing to visit the eU (and other destinations in the Schengen Area, such as Iceland, Norway and Switzerland, which allow citizens of those countries to travel freely between member countries), should check their passports to make sure they are less than ten years old from the date of issue. They must also have at least three months of validity left from the date of your planned return home.

The exception to this rule is travel to Ireland, where a UK passport need only be unexpired. The passport validity changes came about following Brexit, but with many people only just returning to regular travel post-Covid, it is likely large numbers could be caught out, just as you were.

The ‘ over ten-year’ issue arose because, between 2001 and September 9, 2018, any period of unused validity could be carried over at renewal, up to a maximum of nine months. Affected passports will continue to be in circulation until June 2029.

Since September 10, 2018, passports have been issued only with a maximum of ten years for adults, and five years for children.

If hM Passport Office has details from a holder’s previous application, it will send a text message alerting them when their passport is nearing expiry or close to not being valid for travel to most countries in europe.

The message will direct them to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office website to check the appropriate passport requirements.

Rules for countries outside the eU and the Schengen Area can differ. For example, visitors to the

U. S. need only ensure their passport is valid for the length of their trip, while those heading to

New Zealand will need three months remaining on their passport beyond the return travel date. For a full list of passport and visa requirements for different countries, visit gov. uk/ foreign -travel-advice.

To avoid the kind of stress you experienced, holidaymakers should leave plenty of time for the passport renewal process, as it can take up to ten weeks.

It costs from £82.50 for the basic 34-page passport. If needed sooner, consider the online premium service, which takes at least two days and costs from £193.50, or the fast-track service, which costs £155 and takes a week.

The Post Office offers renewal services that involve the application being checked before it is sent for £16 on top of the basic passport fee. Don’t fall for copycat websites offering to do the renewal for you. At best these sites charge extra and, at worst, they’ll run off with your money and you’ll have no passport to show for it.

I asked TUI if anything had been missed in your case, but it said it was blameless and that it reminds customers of the passport rules once a booking has been confirmed. Seven days before departure it prods travellers to check that their passport is valid.

A spokesman says: ‘We give our customers ample warning that their passports must be less than ten years old when travelling to european countries. This is a Government policy — not a TUI policy — that is mentioned both on our website and within customer communications.

‘The online form that the reader filled out is not a passport checker — it is for passengers to input passport information in the correct format.’

IN JANUARY I had my golf clubs stolen from the locked boot of my car, which was parked in the drive of my house.

After giving me the run-around for months, demanding receipts and photos, my home insurer, Admiral, now says it will not meet my £1,000 claim.

BY The time you contacted me, nearly six months after your clubs had been pinched, you had already been through what felt like more than 18 holes with Admiral home Insurance, with your claim well and truly stuck in the rough.

Readers might wonder why you didn’t claim on your motor policy, since the clubs were taken from your car. You told me this didn’t occur to you.

In any case, many drivers in your position would have avoided this. Not only do cover limits tend to be quite low but, importantly, any claim can affect a no claims bonus, the discount applied by motor insurers to reward customers for claim-free periods.

The longer the customer goes without making a claim, the bigger the discount, so drivers try to avoid giving up such valuable savings.

Typically, a loss like yours would come under the ‘personal possessions cover’ of a household policy. This is insurance-speak for items lost or stolen while away from the home. Not all policies include this as standard, however, and often you would need to pay extra.

The cover level is usually capped, perhaps at £1,000 or £2,000, unless a policyholder chooses to pay an even higher premium. Items covered might include sports equipment, jewellery, laptops and handbags, for example.

Your level of Admiral policy did not include this cover. But what your policy did include was cover for theft from areas outside the home, including ‘ theft from outbuildings and garages and garden contents’. You were relieved to be told by Admiral that this would be relevant to your loss, with a maximum payout of £1,000.

Although the stolen equipment was worth more than this, you accepted that this was the maximum you would receive — minus your £350 excess. The excess is the amount a policy states you must contribute towards a claim.

Since proof of purchase is usually necessary for this kind of claim, you sent Admiral the only receipts you had — one for £899 for a set of irons (seven clubs) purchased in February last year and another for £ 99.99 for a 56- degree wedge bought in March 2022 — both birthday gifts from your wife. You also provided a crime reference number obtained from the police.

Weeks passed without word, but when you chased on March 28, to your fury, a call handler told you your claim had actually been declined earlier that month.

You complained about the lack of communication, and queried why there had been so much discussion, demand for receipts and pictures, plus a confirmation of the excess, if the claim was not even valid.

An internal investigation by Admiral found in your favour, with the claim being agreed and £100 paid as an apology.

But that was not the end of it. Another month passed, and still no payment was received. Out of the blue you got an email from Admiral stating, once again, that you were not covered and that the file would be closed. You asked me to referee the situation. I contacted Admiral, asking it to put things right.

I am pleased to say Admiral quickly recognised that its service had been under par — which might be a good quality when you are playing golf, but not in other areas of life — especially in customer service. The £1,000 claim was settled in full, with £200 added as an apology — plus interest — and no excess was charged.

An Admiral spokesman said: ‘We would like to apologise for the service your Money Mail reader has received. he has clearly had a difficult claims journey with us. There have been delays, poor communication and errors made, for which we are truly sorry.’

It admitted that your claim should not have been denied and blamed human error. The agent involved has apparently received ‘urgent feedback’.

◾ WRITE to Sally Hamilton at Sally Sorts It, Money Mail, 9 Derry Street, London W8 5HY or email sally@dailymail. co.uk — include phone number, address and a note addressed to the offending organisation giving them permission to talk to Sally Hamilton. Please do not send original documents as we cannot take responsibility for them. No legal responsibility can be accepted by the Daily Mail for answers given.