Emergency Travel Documents Growth

The Passport, a very serious document that you need for travel apparently however some people don’t seem to take it as seriously as others. The amount of emergency travel documents needed has increased massively, but why are so many British holiday makers needing to purchase the expensive emergency travel documents, some of the most common mistakes made by Brits apparently are using the passport as a beer mat, notebook or even putting it in the washing machine and now British holiday makers are spending millions each year on lost, stolen or damaged passports whilst they are abroad.

The FCO, Foreign & Commonwealth office are urging people to save themselves time and just look after their passport, it avoids all the hassle and cost of buying the emergency travel documents when on summer which can be very pricy and time consuming. It can take some serious time to get ETD with you having to get a passport photo, reporting it to the police and to get to the nearest British embassy. All the warnings come after there has been a significant 300% increase for 2012-2013 on 2011 which is a massive amount, and most cases where people have lost their passport are avoidable.

Not only can the time be inconvenient the cost for emergency travel documents can be around £200 as a temporary replacement of your passport. Such emergency documents do also take time so it may turn into you having to rearrange holiday plans costing you even more money, a good tip for this is that you should take out comprehensive travel insurance before you decide to go on holiday as it covers you if you get stuck in a country for the extra days you will be waiting. The reason FCO have voiced their opinion so much is that most of the passport damages are just a case of careless damage the strong advice that they keep reiterating is to keep your passport safe by sticking to simple steps such as keeping your passport locked in a safe place or carrying a photocopy to prevent any problems later on.