Lost Baggage: What to Do When This Happens – Travel Insurance Services
July 24, 2016
Missing or Stolen Luggage? Here's What to Do!
You’ve just finished booking your flight to Paris, France, and you’re excited to embark on your fun-filled adventure out to what’s dubbed as one of the most romantic cities on Earth. You’ve been doing months of preparation for this trip and have been packing your most elegant outfits, your favorite shoes, and your new GoPro. There’s no way you’d want to miss documenting these precious moments in Paris. However, lo and behold – just as you’ve picked up your chai latte at Starbucks and are heading back to your seat, you realize your carry-on is nowhere to be found. It’s been stolen. Lucky for you, you’ve already purchased a travel insurance policy, meaning you’re going to get reimbursed for your stolen or missing luggage. But what do you do till then? And what do you do in different situations. Here’s our step-by-step guide!
Report to police and airline
Before you go attempting to file a claim to your insurance company just yet, you at least want to make sure your luggage is still around somewhere. Therefore, the first thing you should do is report your missing luggage to the police the airline you’re flying with. They can at the very least keep track of luggage being checked in and out of their flights and help assist in tracking down luggage – whether it accidentally has been misplaced somewhere, or another passenger has stolen it.
File a claim with the airline
There may come a situation where your luggage hadn’t gone missing at the airport, nor did it get stolen, but rather, it went missing during one of your transfer flights. This happens every so often when airlines are unable to track the transfer of luggage well, and therefore, it becomes difficult to figure out where the luggage is. If this is the case, you are entitled to file a claim with the airlines. Contact the customer service desk of your airlines and explain what you’ve lost to them. They will then do their best to track down the luggage in various airports and other places they suspect your luggage may have come in contact with.
Film a claim with the insurance company
If all else fails, and your luggage is absolutely nowhere to be found, it’s probably appropriate for you to file a claim with your insurance company at this point. Filing a claim is pretty simple. Firstly, make sure to collect all the necessary documents relevant to your claim. This may mean any record of you having spoken to police, the airlines, etc., and a written description of exactly what it is that is missing. Once you have all these materials and have thoroughly reviewed them, submit them to the insurance company. After this, you will need to speak with a representative to negotiate the total value of the claim, and what the dollar amount you receive will be. Once this is all done, all you have to do is monitor the status of the claim.
We hope we’ve given you some tips on how to handle going through losing luggage. Losing important luggage while you’re on a voyage to your dream destination is probably one of the worst things that can happen to someone that’s traveling. But inevitably, it is something that is quite common. But hopefully with the right information and resources, such as travel insurance, you can still enjoy your trip with peace of mind!
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