My youngest daughter renewed hers recently, it came with a black cover rather than a blue one There was a mix up at the printers apparently and a few were printed with black ones. Professionals eh!
My mate finally got to speak with someone and they said because if staff shortage due to virus they sent a lot of applications from Peterborough to Durham to be processed. In Durham they fall into a big black hole and it's anyone's guess when they will get round to doing them. It's certainly not first come first served but more like start on top of the pile and the pile gets topped up every day so if you are bottom you stay there for some time. There is a helpline that offers call back which, after several attempts, worked for him.
