Lost, Delayed or Damaged Luggage: Your Rights

You arrive at your destination, stand by the baggage carousel and watch everyone else collect their suitcase.

Then the belt stops.

Your bag hasn’t arrived.

Or perhaps it does arrive — but the wheel has been ripped off, the case is cracked or something inside has been damaged.

Baggage problems can be incredibly frustrating, but don’t simply leave the airport and hope the airline sorts it out later.

There are specific rules covering lost, delayed and damaged baggage, and some of the deadlines for making a claim are surprisingly short.

For many international journeys, baggage liability is governed by the Montreal Convention, which sets rules covering the loss, damage or delay of baggage. Unlike UK261 or EU261 flight compensation, baggage claims are generally based on the loss you can prove rather than a fixed compensation payment. ICAO

Last updated: October 2026. This guide provides general information about passenger rights and is not legal advice.

Your bag hasn’t arrived – report it before leaving the airport

If your checked luggage does not appear on the carousel, report it at the airport straight away.

Look for the airline’s baggage desk or its ground-handling agent in the baggage reclaim area.

You will normally be asked to complete a Property Irregularity Report, often called a PIR.

Keep a copy or photograph of it.

The Civil Aviation Authority advises passengers to report lost, delayed or damaged baggage at the airport and retain the PIR. Civil Aviation Authority

Your PIR reference is often used by the airline to trace your missing suitcase.

But there is something important to understand:

A PIR is not necessarily the same thing as making your formal written baggage claim.

You should still follow the airline’s baggage-claims procedure afterwards and make the written claim within the relevant deadline. Pasted markdown

If your luggage is delayed, you can buy reasonable essentials

If your suitcase is delayed while you are away from home, you may suddenly have no clothes, toiletries or other basic belongings.

Most airlines will reimburse passengers for the bare essentials they reasonably need to buy while their baggage is delayed. Civil Aviation Authority

That does not mean going on a shopping spree.

Think about what you genuinely need until the luggage arrives.

A toothbrush, basic toiletries, underwear and a reasonable change of clothes may be much easier to justify than expensive designer purchases.

Keep every itemised receipt.

The airline may ask you to prove exactly what you purchased and how much it cost.

What counts as reasonable can also depend on how long the bag is missing.

Someone whose luggage arrives five hours later may have very different reasonable needs from someone whose suitcase does not appear for five days.

What if your luggage is delayed on the way home?

Your position may be slightly different if your suitcase is delayed when you return home.

The CAA says airlines may consider your losses lower because you are likely to have clothes, toiletries and other essentials available at home already. Civil Aviation Authority

That does not necessarily mean you could never recover an expense incurred after arriving home.

But you should not assume that an airline will reimburse the same level of replacement shopping that might have been reasonable if your luggage disappeared at the beginning of a holiday abroad.

Again, the key question is:

What did you genuinely need because the airline did not return your baggage when it should have?

Keep evidence of anything you purchase and be prepared to explain why it was necessary.

Keep evidence of what was inside your suitcase

If your bag eventually becomes a lost-baggage claim, the airline may ask you to prove what was inside it and what those belongings were worth.

This can be difficult months after you originally bought something.

Useful evidence can include:

• photographs of the suitcase and its contents
• purchase receipts
• online order confirmations
• credit or debit card records
• photographs from your trip showing particular items
• baggage tags and boarding passes
• your PIR
• emails and messages from the airline
• receipts for essential replacement purchases
• photographs showing damage

The CAA says airlines may ask for receipts, card records or other evidence showing the value of lost items. Where original receipts are no longer available, other information about the product, its cost and its age can also help establish the loss. Civil Aviation Authority

This is why taking a quick photograph of your packed suitcase before an important trip can actually be useful.

You may never need it.

But if a suitcase containing belongings worth hundreds or thousands of pounds disappears, having some evidence of what was inside can make the claim much easier to explain.

Airlines don’t normally pay “new for old”

This catches some passengers by surprise.

If an airline loses a coat that cost £300 three years ago, that does not necessarily mean it will simply give you £300 for a brand-new replacement.

The CAA explains that airlines generally take account of an item’s value and age when it was lost, rather than automatically providing new-for-old replacement value. Civil Aviation Authority

So when making your claim, be realistic about the current value of older belongings.

When does delayed luggage become lost luggage?

A suitcase that does not arrive on your flight is not necessarily considered permanently lost immediately.

The airline will normally attempt to trace and return it.

Under the Montreal Convention, if the airline admits that the checked baggage has been lost, or the baggage has still not arrived 21 days after the date it should have arrived, the passenger can enforce the rights associated with lost baggage. Pasted markdown

So if your suitcase is still missing after three weeks, the situation has moved beyond an ordinary short baggage delay.

Make sure you are then pursuing the appropriate lost-baggage claim with the airline.

What happens if your luggage is damaged?

Check your suitcase before leaving the baggage reclaim area where practical.

If you notice significant damage, report it immediately to the airline or baggage-handling desk and obtain a PIR where possible.

Take photographs before the suitcase is repaired, replaced or thrown away.

Photograph the entire suitcase as well as the specific damaged areas, including broken wheels, handles, zips and any damaged contents.

Depending on the circumstances, an airline may repair the baggage, contribute towards a repair or provide replacement baggage. Civil Aviation Authority

Normal wear and tear is different from substantial damage.

A small scuff is unlikely to be treated in the same way as a cracked shell, destroyed zip or wheel that has been completely torn from the suitcase.

Baggage claim deadlines are short

This is one section I would pay particular attention to.

For damaged checked baggage, a written complaint normally needs to be made within seven days of receiving the baggage.

For delayed baggage, the written complaint normally needs to be made within 21 days from the date the baggage was returned to you. Civil Aviation Authority

The CAA also advises passengers to make written claims promptly for lost or stolen items.

Do not assume that completing a PIR at the airport means you have completed the entire claims process.

Report the problem at the airport, then follow up with the airline in writing.

And keep evidence showing when you submitted the claim.

How much can you claim for lost, delayed or damaged baggage?

Unlike UK261 or EU261 flight compensation, baggage claims do not usually provide an automatic fixed payment simply because something happened to your suitcase.

You normally claim for the loss or damage you can prove, subject to the applicable liability limit.

Under the Montreal Convention, the current liability limit for the destruction, loss, damage or delay of baggage is 1,519 Special Drawing Rights — SDRs — per passenger. The revised limit took effect on 28 December 2024. ICAO

What is 1,519 SDR in pounds?

An SDR is an international unit of account rather than an ordinary currency, so its value in pounds changes with exchange rates.

On 6 October 2026, the International Monetary Fund published a rate of 0.977907 SDR for £1. At that rate:

1,519 SDR ≈ £1,553

So for a UK traveller, it is reasonable to think of the current Montreal Convention baggage liability ceiling as being around £1,550 per passenger, based on the 6 October 2026 exchange rate. International Monetary Fund

But this is important:

£1,553 is an approximate conversion, not a guaranteed payment.

The sterling value changes as the SDR exchange rate moves, so the amount should be recalculated at the relevant time rather than treated as a permanently fixed GBP figure.

And even more importantly:

1,519 SDR is a liability ceiling — not an automatic payout.

You still need to prove what you actually lost, what was damaged or what reasonable costs you incurred. ICAO specifically confirms that the 1,519 SDR figure is a maximum liability amount rather than a lump-sum payment. ICAO

So if your genuine proven loss is worth £600, you do not simply receive £1,553 because that happens to be the maximum.

The baggage limit is per passenger, not per suitcase

This is another important distinction.

The Montreal Convention limit of 1,519 SDR applies per passenger, not automatically to each individual checked suitcase. ICAO

Checking two bags therefore does not automatically double the airline’s liability ceiling.

Equally, the rules can become more nuanced where belongings belonging to different passengers were packed inside the same checked suitcase, so evidence of ownership can become important.

What if you’re travelling with expensive items?

If you are travelling with belongings worth more than the normal baggage liability limit, the Montreal Convention allows passengers in certain circumstances to make a special declaration of interest when checking the baggage and potentially pay an additional charge for a higher declared value.

In practice, this is not something most ordinary travellers do.

For expensive jewellery, electronics or other high-value belongings, suitable travel insurance may therefore be particularly important.

And where practical, avoid placing valuable, fragile or irreplaceable belongings in checked luggage in the first place.

What about hand luggage?

The liability position is slightly different.

For checked baggage, the Montreal Convention generally makes the carrier liable for destruction, loss or damage occurring while the luggage is in its charge, subject to certain exceptions.

For unchecked baggage, including cabin baggage and personal belongings that remain with you, airline liability generally depends on whether the damage resulted from the fault of the carrier, its employees or agents. Pasted markdown

That is another reason to keep important valuables under your control where practical.

What about losses caused by delayed baggage?

Sometimes the suitcase itself is not the biggest financial problem.

Imagine your luggage does not arrive and you have to buy necessary clothes for an event.

Or the suitcase is delayed for several days and you incur other costs as a direct result.

The Montreal Convention can provide for proven damage caused by baggage delay, subject to its rules and liability limit.

However, more indirect or consequential losses can be significantly harder to recover.

The CAA gives the example of someone missing the beginning of a cruise because they waited for delayed luggage. Airlines do not necessarily accept liability for every knock-on loss, and some disputes of that type may ultimately require legal action if they cannot be resolved. Civil Aviation Authority

Keep your claim focused and well evidenced.

What if your journey involved more than one airline?

Baggage problems are particularly common where passengers transfer between flights or between different airlines.

If your luggage is lost or damaged on a journey involving two or more airlines, the CAA says you can make a claim against any of the airlines involved.

In practice, the final airline is usually a sensible place to start, as it will commonly handle the claim. Civil Aviation Authority

Keep all boarding passes and baggage tags from the entire journey.

Do not throw away documents from the first flight simply because the luggage problem only became apparent after the final sector.

Should you claim from the airline or your travel insurer?

You should generally report the problem to the airline and preserve your airline claim.

But there are circumstances where your travel insurance may provide better cover.

The CAA notes that airline liability may not compensate you for the full real-world cost of everything you lose, whereas your travel-insurance policy may provide additional cover.

However, travel insurance can have:

• an excess
• individual-item limits
• exclusions
• its own evidence requirements
• separate claim deadlines

Check the policy carefully before deciding which route is most appropriate.

And do not recover the same loss twice.

What if the airline rejects your baggage claim?

Ask the airline for a clear explanation.

Keep its final response.

If you still believe the claim is valid, check which independent complaint route applies to that airline.

Where an airline belongs to an approved Alternative Dispute Resolution provider, you may be able to escalate the dispute there.

Where the airline is not covered by an approved ADR scheme, the CAA’s Passenger Advice and Complaints Team — PACT — may be able to consider certain Montreal Convention complaints involving lost, delayed or damaged baggage. The CAA asks passengers to provide evidence such as the PIR, itemised receipts, photographs and details of lost or damaged items when submitting relevant baggage complaints. Civil Aviation Authority

The same general principle applies here as with other airline disputes:

Try to resolve the claim with the airline first, then use the correct independent escalation route if the complaint remains unresolved.

For the wider escalation process, see Flight Compensation Claim Rejected or Ignored? What to Do Next.

Can you take a baggage claim to court?

Potentially.

The Montreal Convention provides a two-year time limit for court proceedings, calculated from the date the aircraft arrived, should have arrived, or the date the carriage stopped, depending on the circumstances. Pasted markdown

That is important because baggage claims do not necessarily have the same limitation period as other types of airline dispute.

Do not assume that because you have heard of a longer deadline for a UK261 compensation claim, the same deadline automatically applies to a Montreal Convention baggage claim.

If you have used the appropriate airline complaint and escalation routes but still believe you have a valid unresolved claim, see Taking an Airline to Small Claims Court: UK Guide for the court stage.

What should you do if your luggage goes missing?

The most important thing is to act quickly.

Report the problem before leaving the airport wherever possible.

Get the PIR.

Keep your baggage tags and boarding passes.

Photograph any damage.

Keep evidence showing what was inside the luggage.

Keep itemised receipts for reasonable essentials.

If the bag is delayed on your journey home, remember that the level of necessary replacement spending may be lower because you already have belongings available at home.

If multiple airlines operated your journey, keep the documents for every flight.

Then submit the airline’s formal written baggage claim within the relevant deadline and keep a copy.

If the suitcase eventually arrives, inspect it as soon as you receive it.

If it is damaged or items are missing, document that immediately too.

The bottom line

Lost, delayed and damaged baggage claims work very differently from ordinary flight compensation.

There usually is not a fixed payment automatically due simply because your suitcase did not arrive.

Instead, your claim normally depends on:

what you actually lost

what reasonable expenses you incurred

what you can prove

and

the applicable Montreal Convention liability limit.

At the current 6 October 2026 IMF exchange rate, that 1,519 SDR liability ceiling is approximately £1,553 per passenger — but it is a ceiling, not an automatic payout, and its sterling value fluctuates. International Monetary Fund

So if something goes wrong with your luggage:

Report it immediately.

Get a Property Irregularity Report.

Take photographs.

Keep evidence of what was inside the bag.

Keep every reasonable expense receipt.

And do not miss the claim deadlines.

Most importantly, do not assume that filling out a form at the baggage desk is the end of the process.

Report the problem at the airport — then make sure you submit the formal written claim to the airline as well