Jewellery stolen

MrChips

My wife recently went on a business trip to Moscow, travelling on Aeroflot from Heathrow. On arrival her suitcase had gone missing (the only one on the whole flight to be mislaid) which was very inconvenient as she was hosting a conference the following day and was left with only her casual clothing she had travelled in. Initially the airline said they had no idea where the case had gone, but after some time they managed to track it down and she was reunited with it at her hotel a couple of days later. In the meantime she was told that customs officers in Russia would need to search it.

A day or so later it became apparent that a pair of gold earrings had gone missing from her make up bag within the suitcase. At first she clung to the hope she had somehow left them at home, but on her return she was able to confirm that she had indeed packed them and they were now gone.

She isn’t sure what to do next. Does she have a claim against the airline? The airport (destination or arrival)? Her travel insurers? The earrings were a gift many years ago so she has no receipt and isn't sure how much they originally cost.

Any advice gratefully received!

Caz3121

difficult one as I am guessing you would need to report the theft to the police and then possibly look at travel insurance.
I would expect the airline to be unhelpful and probably point to the fact that valuables should be in hand luggage and not hold luggage

MrChips

Thanks Caz3121. I agree the Police would almost certainly need to be informed if an insurance claim was to be pursued. The only difficulty here is we are unsure whether the theft occured in the UK or Russia (I would assume that makes a difference as to which police force would need to take this up?). Our assumption is that the disappearance of the bag and the earrings are related, but we aren't sure if the bag went missing before or after the flight.

mcfisco

I'd report it to the police local to Heathrow and simply report that it went missing between checking in the bag and receiving it back in Moscow.
I can't see why they wouldn't handle it and issue you with a crime ref etc.

Bob_the_Saver

Have to say I'd never pack small valuables in checked in bags, keep them in your carry-on.

peachyprice

Was the case locked? You might want to check you policy as you may not be covered for valuables left in unlocked, checked, luggage.

I'm with Bob, never put anything valuable into checked luggage.

MrChips

We'll be checking the wording of the policy as soon as we get a copy from the Human Resources team. Re being locked, I guess that wouldn't make much difference in this case as the customs team would have had to open it anyway.

HoofeHearted

The Golden Rule is "Never put anything into your checked in luggage that you can't afford to lose".

MrChips

Thanks all. I think the issue here is not that we can't afford to lose these earrings - we'll get by without them - but what our options are if things do go missing while the airline is looking after a suitcase for a few days. In reality sometimes one doesn't have an option to take stuff into the cabin in carry on luggage, if it is bulky or heavy, say.

[Deleted User]

MrChips wrote: »

Thanks all. I think the issue here is not that we can't afford to lose these earrings - we'll get by without them - but what our options are if things do go missing while the airline is looking after a suitcase for a few days. In reality sometimes one doesn't have an option to take stuff into the cabin in carry on luggage, if it is bulky or heavy, say.

Goodbye Mr Chips.




















( In fairness I did wait until the thread was virtually over before posting ! )

stoneman

HoofeHearted wrote: »

The Golden Rule is "Never put anything into your checked in luggage that you can't afford to lose".

So tell me, if you have a DSLR camera, lenses, laptop, camcorder, binoculars, jewellery, expensive perfume, etc, etc, how are you supposed to put all that in hand luggage as well as stuff you might need for the flight?
Granted that the most expensive should stay with you but this line of patronising statement gets spouted all the time, sometimes it is just unavoidable that some expensive items have to get put in checked luggage.
I would say that the golden rule is if you have to put expensive items in checked luggage make sure you are well insured.