Delay of Checked Baggage

Every plan sets a trigger — commonly somewhere between 6 and 12 hours from arrival — and buys nothing before it. A bag returned at hour five on a 12-hour policy produces no claim at all, however inconvenient it was.

This is the single most important number to check when comparing plans, and it varies more than the payout limit does. A lower trigger on a modest limit is usually worth more in practice than a high limit on a 12-hour trigger, because the majority of mishandled bags are reunited with their owner within a day.

Some wordings also pay only on the outbound leg, on the reasoning that at home you have a wardrobe. Read whether the delay benefit applies on the return.

Reasonable and necessary emergency purchases: basic clothing, toiletries, medication you are without, and inexpensive replacements for what was in the bag.

The word doing the work is 'necessary'. Insurers reimburse a serviceable shirt, not a replacement wardrobe, and they routinely decline luxury or brand purchases made during a delay.

Keep every original receipt with the date and time visible. Purchases dated before the delay began, or after the bag was returned, are declined as a matter of routine.

Underneath every baggage claim sits the Montreal Convention, the treaty governing international air carriage. It caps an airline's liability for baggage that is lost, damaged or delayed at 1,519 Special Drawing Rights per passenger — a limit raised from 1,288 SDR with effect from 28 December 2024. SDR is an IMF unit of account, so the rupee value moves with exchange rates.

Airlines have their own delayed-baggage allowances and many will reimburse essentials directly. Claim there first; the insurer covers the balance.

If the delay turns into a permanent loss, the claim converts to the loss-of-checked-baggage benefit. Most wordings then deduct whatever they already paid you for the delay from the loss settlement, so the two do not stack.

Get the Property Irregularity Report at the airport before leaving, with the delay time recorded on it.

Note the exact time the bag was finally delivered — the delivery docket usually shows it, and it is the evidence the waiting period is measured against.

Keep receipts, the PIR, the baggage tag and the boarding pass together, and file within the policy window.

Pack a change of clothes, essential medication and chargers in cabin baggage. It is a better solution than any insurance benefit, and it costs nothing.

The hours threshold is the headline variable, but the point it is measured from also differs and is rarely advertised.

Most wordings measure from the actual arrival of the flight at the destination. Some measure from the scheduled arrival, which is more generous when the flight itself was late. A few measure from the time you file the Property Irregularity Report, which is the least generous of the three and rewards filing immediately.

There is also a difference in what ends the clock: the moment the airline delivers the bag, or the moment the airline notifies you it is available for collection. On a policy using the latter, a bag sitting at the airport while you are two hours away has already stopped the clock.

None of this is visible on a comparison page. It is in the wording, and for a benefit this frequently used it is worth two minutes of reading.

The Property Irregularity Report is again the founding document, and the delay time recorded on it is what the waiting period is measured against.

Ask for the delivery docket when the bag arrives, and check that it shows the date and time. Where the airline delivers to a hotel, ask the hotel to note the time of receipt if the courier does not.

Receipts must be dated within the window between the delay starting and the bag being returned. This is where claims most often unravel: a receipt from the morning after the bag arrived is declined, however genuine the need was.

Photograph the receipts as you go. Thermal till receipts fade, sometimes within weeks, and a faded receipt is an unprovable expense.

There is no published list, but the pattern across settled claims is consistent: replacements proportionate to the length of the delay and the nature of the trip.

One or two changes of everyday clothing, basic toiletries, and underwear are accepted without argument. A suit for a business meeting the following morning is usually accepted where the trip's purpose supports it.

Designer or luxury purchases, electronics, and duplicate items are the ones that get queried or reduced.

For a delay of a few hours over the threshold, expect the assessment to be modest; for a multi-day delay on a two-week trip, a fuller replacement set is reasonable and generally paid.

Where the airline has already given you a fixed allowance, spend that first and claim above it — the insurer will deduct it either way.