I did try the online renewal but had problems regarding he requested new photo even though I've had other photo ID with no problems.
Although following the instruction for taking the photo closely, every one was rejected.
I did read that the passport bods use a different photo system from the others though.
douglas, if they reject your picture, try lightening it a bit - or darkening it - and try again. I got mine from a passport photo booth in the supermarket.
I found the whole on-line passport renewal process really easy.
Our passports were over 10 years out of date and they accepted our renewals with just the application and a new photo. Need to do it soon though as price of new passport goes up by £12.50 in March.
I used the postal service with their check to ensure photos etc are right. The new passport came through in 5 days - the old one back after 2 weeks or so. Now renewing my daughters, an expired one and its the same forms/process.
douglas, perhaps taking your own photo was the mistake. The booth screens are geared up to ensure you get the picture right.
As ummmm says, no countersignature necessary. You just fill the on-line form in, attach the picture, and submit. My passport arrived just days later. Very easy.
If you go to a Tesco photo shop, they will take your passport photo and send it to the passport office ,then they get a 'yes' or 'no' to say if it is approved or not. They will retake the photo free until they get a yes .
Other places can do the same. When I did it over a year ago, you still had to post off the actual photo with the ID signature. They were working on doing the whole thing online. I would imagine the online photo process is up and running now.