A shock new poll by Direct Line Travel Insurance involving 2,000 Britons suggested passport holders have 159 days on average left on their travel document when being forced to renew under the new guidelines. The Daily Telegraph reports that up to 3.6million new passports have been issued since September, which adds up to 567million wasted days on the documents. This is the equivalent of 155,000 10-year passports, costing the British £13.2million collectively as the price of a new passport is £85.

Tom Bishop, head of travel insurance at Direct Line, said: “It is a difficult balancing act, passport holders won’t want to waste the time remaining on an old passport by getting a new one too early, but in many cases, holidaymakers will need to ensure they have at least six months’ validity before travelling.”

Until September, a UK citizen renewing their passport would have had a maximum of nine months left on it added onto their new one from their old document.

For example, somebody with a passport that expires on July 1, 2019 could renew it today and the new document would be valid until July 1, 2029.

Now though, a new passport issued today would be valid until April 12, 2029.

The Government put the new rule into place so the UK is in line with other nations that require travellers to have at least six months left to run on their passports, such as Brazil, Turkey, China, Russia, St Lucia and Thailand.

Some counties will refuse holidaymakers entry unless they have at least three months left on their travel document, such as Belarus.

New Zealand and South Africa require one month of validity left on a passport.

The Foreign Office even advises travellers without at least two blank pages o their passport to renew it as some countries will turn people away if they do not have this.

The Home Office said: “Previously, the UK was the only country to exceed the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s guidelines for a maximum passport validity of ten years for adults, and five years for children.

“The price paid for a UK passport has never reflected the validity of that passport, rather it is based on the cost of processing the application.”

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