Lost Baggage - Travel Insurance

cookie78

I have a few questions I really hope someone can help with as this seems to be a minefield and there is not a lot of information on the net that I can find to help. OK the problem is that BMI have lost 1 of our bags on return to Heathrow, its now missing 16 days so in 5 more it is officially lost. My understanding is that BMI top limit to pay is approx £820, I am insured with Debenhams to £1500 with £100 excess. BMI advise me to claim off travel insurance, travel insurance tell me to claim off BMI. Questions are:

1. Which one do I claim off or do I claim off both but inform travel insurance that I have sent a claim to BMI also and let them sort it out?
2. I have some receipts but not all, will they pay for smaller items (under £50) without receipts being required?
3. What happens if I am lucky enough to get a settlement but then the bag shows up, do I owe it back, do they keep the bag or do I get lucky and have both?
4. Has anyone ever dealt with Debenhams Insure & Go policy and are they easy to deal with?
5. Has anyone any further advice or help for me as my head is spinning trying to work out what to do for the best and get this mess sorted?

Many thanks in advance to anyone who is able to help in an way, it is greatly appreciated :T

Quentin

Claiming off the airline will save you paying any excess.

cookie78

Quentin wrote: »

Claiming off the airline will save you paying any excess.

Dont really mind paying £100 excess off £1500 so £1400 for me as opposed to just £820 from the airline or am I being stupid?

Quentin

I took your post to mean the £1500 was the limit, not the value of your lost property.

If your lost property was worth £1500, then you obviously need to claim off your insurer.

cookie78

OK, sorry about the confusion and thanks for trying to help. Can anyone advise futher on the questions above?

lisyloo

1. You need to claim off your insurer. It's then up to them whether they want to go after the airline.
2. Providing receipts is about proving you're not lying (fraud). You seem to have a quite a high level of luggage for one bag. It's really up to the insurer, but if you have receipts for the larger items, then I expect they will believe that you took some pants,socks, toothbrush etc. So it's about proving the validity of your claim.
If you put valuables in your suitcase rather than hand luggage then they might have issue with that.
3. If the bag shows up then it's the property of the insurer. They will probably allow you to buy it back perhaps for less as you may well already have replaced some of the items.
5. If you have bank statements, photos, books, manuals, accesories, boxes, certificates, warranties etc. for any of the items that don't have receipts then that will help prove you own them. I would offer such information to the insurer.
It's difficult to say because we don't know what % you have receipted.
If you have he major items receipted and the other items are perfectly reasonable items to take away and not have receiped (pants, socks etc) then I think it would be harsh for them to deny your claim. But we don't know what % you are talking about.
The problem for insurers is that they can't just take your word for it and yours is a high claim which might make them a little more suspicious. Unfortuantely some people would just exaggerate, so it's a real problem for them.

cookie78

Just to update the board but this is still ongoing. Insure&Go wouldn't entertain the claim unless I put it through BMI (Luggage Lost Adjusters) 1st. That I did who then wrote back saying I would get more claiming off I&G so off it went to them. They then sat on it for 2 weeks, then asked me for some further information which I sent them. They sat on this for 2 weeks before then requesting I obtain my original receipts back from BMI and forward to them so I have managed to do that today and send them off. I know they will sit on this for 2 weeks now and I am wondering what their next delaying tactic will be while they try to find a loophole out of paying it but we will see. Surely they are running out of excuses and will have to try and settle soon?

cookie78

Got the full claim paid today. Cant really fault Insure&Go apart from taking a while to settle but found them easy to deal with and happy with the settlement :money: