How to claim for lost, damaged or delayed luggage
Luggage is considered lost after 21 days. You must report the fact that your luggage has been lost, delayed or damaged at the airport and keep a copy of the Property Irregularity Report (PIR) which staff of the airline will complete. It is not a legal requirement to have this and some airports may not have them. To make a claim you must then contact the airline in writing:
If your luggage arrives but is damaged or missing some contents this is called damage or partial loss and you must claim within 7 days of receiving it.
If your luggage is delayed and doesn’t show up at all, it’s not considered “lost” until 21 days have passed. At that point, it’s officially “lost” under the Montreal Convention, and you can make a full loss claim.
If your bag turns up later, and you had expenses because of the delay (e.g. buying toiletries or clothes), you must make a claim in writing within 21 days from the date you received your bag.
If your luggage is lost or damaged you should be able to claim from the airline. Different airlines have different rules, but as a general rule of thumb, the CAA says airlines often don’t automatically consider themselves liable for consequential losses and so the only way you could enforce a request if the airline initially refuses to do so, is in court.
Claiming for consequential loss
A consequential loss may be missing a connecting flight because you were waiting for your luggage. Airlines will usually deal with these issues on a case by case basis. They should pay out for essentials and you will have to follow the airline’s specific procedures for complaints, noting the time within which you need to complain. You may get more on your travel insurance but this will depend on the cover taken out and of course the excess.
Make sure you keep receipts of everything you have had to purchase. Take photos, dated if possible, of damaged luggage or contents. Also send copies of the luggage labels as these have the bar code for scanning. When you write send all your evidence including boarding card, the PIR and flight details.
If the airline accept your claim, they may pay for your baggage to be repaired, or may provide replacement baggage. If your luggage turns up a day or two later the airline has to make arrangements for getting it to you as efficiently as possible. Where luggage doesn’t show up, you should be able to monitor it through the tracing procedure, either by contacting baggage services at the airport, the airline’s central department or by logging into an online baggage-tracing page with a reference number.
@thecomplainingcow How to claim for lost or delayed luggage. #traveltipsandhacks #traveltipsandtricks #Holidays #ConsumerRights #Airlines
How much can you claim for lost luggage?
Usually airlines will pay for up to £1,000 and you will need receipts for everything! They may not pay for anything perishable or fragile. They won’t give new for old either.
How to claim when you think you waited too long for your luggage
I would always advise you to claim for any out of pocket expenses and complain to the airline carrier. (This could be over staying the car parking, hitting the time for the Dartford crossing charge etc.) They usually don’t pay for this but it’s worth a shot. You could take the matter further through an Alternative Dispute Resolution(ADR) provider if the airline provider doesn’t play ball.
In the first instance you would need to claim from the airline. You would claim under the Montreal Convention for cases of lost, damaged or delayed baggage from the air carrier. However, legally your contract is with the airline/company to whom you paid the money. Therefore you should claim from the air carrier. The reason I believe that this is becoming more and more of a problem is because in an effort to keep air fares down, airlines are paying the minimum to baggage handling companies so getting a reduced service.
Follow the Top 20 Tips particularly the screenshot trick.
Ultimately, you would be looking in court at what would be considered “reasonable”. It is unlikely that someone is going to take an airline to court. Until I am affected, then I will!
Further help with holiday related issues
For information about your rights on holidays see All you need to know about booking/complaining about holidays/flights.
Template letter to complain about lost luggage
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