Airline damaged your suitcase? You DON'T have to claim on your insurance!!

mandragora_2

We travelled with Thomson at Easter and our (not cheap!) suitcase was damaged - at first glance not too badly, and I thought it was only a trim, and that a couple of stitches would sort it, however, on closer inspection the back of it had been punctured right through and the sub-frame was wrecked. I contacted Thomson.

Their email reply basically said:'We've only got limited liability. Claim on your insurance'

I didn't feel I should have to - I knew who had caused the damage, and I thought they WERE liable - so I did some research. While they are correct, liability IS limited, it is nowhere near as low as they'd have us believe -
http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/travel/passenger-rights/air/index_en.htm

which says that ‘If your registered luggage is lost, damaged or delayed you may be entitled to compensation from the airline limited to about 1220 euros’.

While my case wasn't cheap, it was certainly well within THAT price bracket.:rotfl: I told them so, and also copied my email to the CAA, who replied that they were happy to advise me if I wanted any help from them: passengercomplaints@caa.co.uk

The other thing Thomson tried was insisting that I provide proof of purchase. I didn't have the receipt BUT I was able to provide other proof of cost (I happened to have the price tag sitting in the back of a drawer!). That then brought in the first offer of compensation, which I declined. The next offer doubled it, and at that point I accepted, because it was enough to buy a replacement case of similar quality. It took a while, but I persisted. I'd strongly recommend that of Thomson - or any other airline - damage your case and try telling you to claim from your insurers, you quote the legislation at them, and copy it to the CAA. I'm convinced it was what made a difference for us.

Oh - and don't accept the guff that 'We won't pay if you can't provide a receipt' - if you damaged anything else by your carelessness, I wouldn't expect to provide proof of purchase, I'd just expect you to make good the damage you caused, or replace the item you mangled with something the same or similar.
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Darksun

This is all true, but on the flip side you have to consider whether it's worth it for a matter of principle. If you can get the same result from your travel insurance and it would involve less effort and time on your part, then I see no reason not to take that route - it's not like car or home insurance where making a claim is going to have an impact on future premiums

mandragora_2

Why involve a third party? I'm not sure that filling in an insurance claim form and proving the level of loss/liability would be any less onerous than sending two emails which did the same - and put the responsibility where it should lie - keeping premiums down for all of us. As much as anything it was the fact that Thomsons started discussions with a falsehood that annoyed me.

shaun_from_Africa

Darksun wrote: »

If you can get the same result from your travel insurance and it would involve less effort and time on your part, then I see no reason not to take that route

There are a couple of reasons why going directly to the airline may be better then using your insurance company.

Many (if not all) insurance policies have an excess, so what they pay out may not cover the full replacement value for another case, and going through insurance may take longer as the insurance company may want to contact the airline for confirmation of the damage.

sweep9

Just remember when claiming that more Louis Vuitton suitcases are claimed for than sold in the world!!! lol

mandragora_2

That'll be Louis Vuitton cases that cost just 1,200 euros, presumably

peachyprice

We've had cases damaged by Virgin and BA, on both occasions brand new cases were couriered to us within days, you wouldn't get that service with travel insurance and as mentioned above there's likely to be an excess to pay.

There's a booth at the airport in baggage reclaim where you can make your claim before you leave, this makes it even quicker to get a replacement sent.

gregg1

peachyprice wrote: »

We've had cases damaged by Virgin and BA, on both occasions brand new cases were couriered to us within days, you wouldn't get that service with travel insurance and as mentioned above there's likely to be an excess to pay.

There's a booth at the airport in baggage reclaim where you can make your claim before you leave, this makes it even quicker to get a replacement sent.

My daughter came back on a flight a few weeks back and her brand new (£325) expensive case was wrecked when she collected it at arrivals. Emailed the airline and they refused to deal with it. Phoned the airline and got someone else and they had it collected the next day and a brand new identical case was couriered to us within two weeks.

The moral of this story - if at first you don't succeed...... !!

Also, why should I claim on travel insurance and pay an excess of 60 pounds?

agrinnall

The other advantage of claiming from the airline is that you then don't have to declare a travel insurance claim when taking out a policy in future, which could lead to an increased premium.

Many years ago I found my suitcase was damaged when I got off a BA flight at LAX, I reported it to the ground staff there and they went into a back room and returned with a replacement so I could transfer my belongings there and then.