Air Canada damaged checked in bags

twister_teddy

Travelled with Air Canada from London Heathrow to Cancun, Mexico (transiting Toronto, Canada). They damaged 4x checked in bags which arrived broken and goods stolen from inside at least one bag. Bags received at our final destination at Cancun, Mexico and Baggage handling staff reported immediately and they issued the damage report. Our family vacation is completely ruined due to this. I have submitted claim to Air Canada and they haven't responded to either my baggage claim or the calls. 

My Nationwide flexplus travel insurance is suggesting they won't be able to help and I need to claim using the airline. Is that correct?

Is there a third party lawyer that I can use to claim airline or get some advise I'm feeling helpless without getting any help or assistance.

eskbanker

twister_teddy said:

Our family vacation is completely ruined due to this. I have submitted claim to Air Canada and they haven't responded to either my baggage claim or the calls.

Does the use of the present tense suggest that you're still on holiday?  It's probably unlikely that the matter will be resolved particularly quickly (even if you involved lawyers), so I'd have thought that it would be best to document your inability to contact them and to buy whatever's reasonably needed to continue the holiday, including replacement luggage if yours is literally unusable, and to pursue the airline for the costs after you're back home?

twister_teddy said:

My Nationwide flexplus travel insurance is suggesting they won't be able to help and I need to claim using the airline. Is that correct?

Worth checking the policy terms to ascertain if they're correct, but it wouldn't be a surprise that they'd expect the airline to foot the bill, as travel insurers will typically only pay out for costs that can't be recovered from elsewhere, so if the airline is liable (as seems likely) then yes, the insurer is unlikely to reimburse those costs.

twister_teddy

eskbanker said:

Worth checking the policy terms to ascertain if they're correct, but it wouldn't be a surprise that they'd expect the airline to foot the bill, as travel insurers will typically only pay out for costs that can't be recovered from elsewhere, so if the airline is liable (as seems likely) then yes, the insurer is unlikely to reimburse those costs.

Its not quite clear whether its airline's responsibility for damaged and lost baggage and what happens if airline fails to respond and handle the case properly. below policy document if anyone is able to share their opinion;
https://www.nationwide.co.uk/-/assets/nationwidecouk/documents/current-accounts/insurances/flexplus/p3349-flexplus-worldwide-family-travel-insurance-policy.pdf?rev=36f0446831874d1fa00b78b672e8590d

Does the use of the present tense suggest that you're still on holiday? 

Apologies for confusion, we returned home yesterday, the good news is that we managed to use the strong tapes etc to hold the luggage together and make it way back home. I have damage report from Cancun airport and pictures showing the extent of the damage along with luggage tags etc.

eskbanker

Airlines are definitely responsible for baggage damaged (and items removed) when within their care, under the Montreal Convention, so the insurer will expect you to recover the costs from the airline - item 21 on page 30 of that document excludes recoverable costs.  Claiming from airlines is far from instantaneous though, so lack of response thus far shouldn't be interpreted as a rejection of your claim and you'll probably need to be patient if this just happened within the past couple of weeks.

twister_teddy

eskbanker said:

Airlines are definitely responsible for baggage damaged (and items removed) when within their care, under the Montreal Convention, so the insurer will expect you to recover the costs from the airline - item 21 on page 30 of that document excludes recoverable costs.  Claiming from airlines is far from instantaneous though, so lack of response thus far shouldn't be interpreted as a rejection of your claim and you'll probably need to be patient if this just happened within the past couple of weeks.

Thanks, my expectations too that they'll be slow, to be honest no real urgency now that we've already suffered dragging the damaged bags and the losses whilst we were abroad so happy to wait.

My only worry is that they won't compensate for damage and specially the lost items. I don't even know how we'll prove what objects were missing from the bag given its pretty much a word of mouth with no proof as such. The bag was clearly messed with deliberately and some valuables (sunglasses, charger etc) stolen. We could easily confirm that was the case as the inside of the bag was handled pretty inhumanly with all the internal zips and buckles open and clothes being all unfolded and scattered etc, makes me sick someone has put their dirty hands over our personal items. 

eskbanker

twister_teddy said:

My only worry is that they won't compensate for damage and specially the lost items. I don't even know how we'll prove what objects were missing from the bag given its pretty much a word of mouth with no proof as such. The bag was clearly messed with deliberately and some valuables (sunglasses, charger etc) stolen. We could easily confirm that was the case as the inside of the bag was handled pretty inhumanly with all the internal zips and buckles open and clothes being all unfolded and scattered etc, makes me sick someone has put their dirty hands over our personal items. 

If the airline rejects some or all of your claim then you can submit a claim for those aspects to your insurer, whose stance is effectively to get you to try the other party first rather than outright refusal.  However, the standard of proof is likely to be similar for both, not just in terms of convincing the other party that items were in the baggage but being able to evidence their value via receipts, etc - note that if you describe sunglasses and charger as 'valuables' then they'll probably expect you not to check them in but to keep them with you....

twister_teddy

eskbanker said:

If the airline rejects some or all of your claim then you can submit a claim for those aspects to your insurer, whose stance is effectively to get you to try the other party first rather than outright refusal.  However, the standard of proof is likely to be similar for both, not just in terms of convincing the other party that items were in the baggage but being able to evidence their value via receipts, etc - note that if you describe sunglasses and charger as 'valuables' then they'll probably expect you not to check them in but to keep them with you....

Sure, will update here once airline replies, most likely there will be back n forth on this rather than a straight forward claim settlement.

DullGreyGuy

twister_teddy said:
Our family vacation is completely ruined due to this.

Its a bit of poor start to a holiday but really not sure how a family holiday can be ruined by some material possessions going awol or being damaged. Even if it was a wedding ring or such its still just an object plus I'd question putting jewelry into the hold in the first place. 

twister_teddy said:

Is there a third party lawyer that I can use to claim airline or get some advise I'm feeling helpless without getting any help or assistance.

You can hire a solicitor if you want but it will be at your own expense and will not be recoverable

The airline is liable to each passenger up to £1,083 of damage/loss. Remember that this is on an indemnity basis and so a lost coat is valued as a secondhand coat not the retail price. 

If your losses exceed this or the airline successfuly defends the case (eg if your bag zip split due to overpacking) then thats when your insurance will kick in. 

You can read the full provisions under https://www.iata.org/contentassets/fb1137ff561a4819a2d38f3db7308758/mc99-full-text.pdf

twister_teddy

DullGreyGuy said:

Its a bit of poor start to a holiday but really not sure how a family holiday can be ruined by some material possessions going awol or being damaged. 

Not sure if you understand the consequences mate, we would have been be in real trouble if they had stolen our toiletries bag which contained some allergy medicines for our children which very much limit dining options for our children. Luckily they didn't take it. Items which were stolen were phone chargers etc. Just a pain to find replacements whilst you're in another country. Some items aren't necessarily high cost but relatively much higher significance whilst you're in another country.

Caz3121

Indeed fortunate but Medication should always be in carry-on baggage (most airlines, including Air Canada, state this) 

Brie

Only thing to add is to keep a log of all calls, all extra expenses, all receipts so that you have a full claim to submit when you get to that point.  Hope you can enjoy your holiday without any immediate essentials.