Baggage claims are settled after depreciation

There is a settled way of talking about baggage claims. It is worth asking how much of it survives contact with the detail.

Three limits, not one

A baggage section has a total limit, a single-article limit, and often a separate valuables limit covering the aggregate of all valuable items. The single-article limit is usually low, and it applies to a camera, a laptop or a coat individually. A generous total limit is therefore irrelevant to a claim for one expensive item.

Comparing the single-article and valuables limits is far more informative than comparing the headline figure.

Depreciation is applied item by item

Insurers deduct for age and wear on each item, so a wardrobe of clothes bought over several years settles well below replacement cost. This is the ordinary indemnity principle rather than a travel-specific meanness.

Receipts help establish price and, importantly, date of purchase, which drives the depreciation calculation. Photographs of items in use, dated, support both existence and condition.

The airline is the first claim

International conventions impose liability on carriers for checked baggage that is lost, damaged or delayed, subject to limits. Insurers generally require you to claim against the airline first and to provide the property irregularity report. That report must usually be obtained before leaving the airport, and obtaining it later is often impossible.

Where it helps most, missing that single document defeats a large proportion of baggage claims.

Delayed versus lost

Baggage delay benefit pays a modest sum for essential purchases after a stated number of hours, and requires receipts. If baggage is later declared lost, the delay payment is usually deducted from the lost baggage settlement. Airlines have their own timescale before baggage is formally declared lost, commonly around three weeks.

The insurance claim generally cannot conclude until that determination is made.

Valuables and unattended items

Almost all policies exclude valuables from checked baggage, so cameras, jewellery, laptops and cash must travel in the cabin. Items left unattended, including in a locked car boot or on a beach, are excluded in most wordings. Cash limits are low and usually require the money to be on your person or in a safe.

These exclusions are consistent and are the reason most valuable-item claims fail.

Cover you may already hold

Home contents policies with personal possessions cover often protect belongings worldwide, sometimes more generously than a travel policy. Specified high-value items on a home policy usually retain their full value away from home. Claiming under home cover has its own consequences for that policy, so the choice deserves thought.

The useful part is this: checking both before you travel takes minutes and can change which policy you would use.

The takeaway

Get the airport report before you leave, keep valuables in the cabin, and check the single-article limit.

Small and repeatable beats ambitious and abandoned, almost every time.