Items stolen from checked baggage: how the claim actually works

Partial loss, not delay and not damage to the shell

A pilfered bag sits awkwardly between the categories airlines use. It was not delayed, because it arrived with you. The suitcase itself may be undamaged, so it does not look like a damage case. And nothing was lost, in the sense the airline means, because the bag came back. Front-line staff quite often conclude from this that there is no baggage claim at all.

The Convention does not have that gap. Article 17(2) makes the carrier liable for damage sustained in case of destruction or loss of, or of damage to, checked baggage upon condition only that the event which caused it took place while the baggage was in the charge of the carrier. Checked baggage means the bag and what is in it. Removing half the contents is loss of part of the checked baggage, and the liability provision does not require the loss to be total.

This matters for a practical reason. The category you claim under decides the deadline. Treat it as a delay case and you may assume you have 21 days; treat it correctly as loss of or damage to the baggage and the window is 7 days. Several carriers put the 7-day rule for missing contents in their own conditions, which is worth checking on the carrier's page before anything else.

• Missing contents are loss of part of the checked baggage under Article 17(2).
• The test is where the bag was, not whether the shell was damaged.
• Assume the 7-day window applies, and check the carrier's own stated deadline.

Why the report has to happen before you leave the hall

The single most damaging thing in a pilferage claim is the gap between collecting the bag and reporting the loss. Every hour in that gap is an hour the airline can argue the bag was out of everyone's charge and in yours. Carriers say this openly: several state that baggage accepted without complaint is presumed delivered in good condition, which is the presumption Article 31(1) sets up.

So the order of operations is the same as for damage. Open the bag before leaving the baggage reclaim area if you have any reason to suspect it, and if something is missing go to the baggage desk in the hall and have a report raised on the spot. Ask for the reference and check that the report records what is missing, not merely that you complained.

If you only discover the loss at the hotel, report the same day in writing through the carrier's missing-items route and say when the bag was opened and where it had been since collection. That is a weaker position than reporting in the hall, but Article 31(1) creates a presumption, not a bar, and a prompt written complaint inside the 7 days keeps the claim alive.

• Report in the baggage hall wherever possible and get the reference in writing.
• Check the report lists the missing items, not just the fact of a complaint.
• If you discover it later, complain in writing the same day and say when the bag was opened.
• Photograph the bag, its lock or zip, and any security-inspection notice inside.

Security inspections, cable ties and what the notice means

Checked bags are opened by security authorities in many countries, and the inspecting agency usually leaves a printed notice inside. If you find one, keep it and photograph it in place. Airlines regularly cite these inspections when refusing a pilferage claim, on the basis that the bag was in the charge of a state authority rather than the carrier when it was opened.

That argument has force but it is not automatic. The notice shows the bag was opened, not that anything was taken, and not that it was outside the carrier's charge for the whole period. The carrier still has to place the loss outside the window in which the bag was in its charge, and the notice alone rarely establishes that.

A related point about locks. A bag that arrives with a broken lock or a cut zip is evidence, so photograph it before doing anything else. A bag that arrives locked and untouched is not evidence against you either: many losses happen through the zip, which can be opened and re-closed without leaving a mark.

• Keep and photograph any security inspection notice found inside the bag.
• An inspection notice shows the bag was opened, not that the loss falls outside the carrier's charge.
• Photograph broken locks, cut zips or a re-taped seam before repacking anything.

Evidencing contents nobody photographed

This is where pilferage claims are won or lost. The airline knows the bag came back and does not know what was in it, so the burden falls on you to make the contents concrete. Very few people photograph a packed suitcase, and the claim has to be built from what does exist.

Purchase receipts and card or bank statements are the strongest material, because they are dated and independent. Serial numbers, IMEI numbers and warranty registrations tie a specific device to you. Photographs from earlier in the trip that happen to show the item, insurance schedules listing valuables, and order confirmations from an online account all help. Where an item was a gift or bought long ago, say so plainly and give what you have rather than inventing a receipt.

Write the contents list once, itemised, with the age and condition of each item, and keep it consistent across every form and message. Airlines compare the airport report, the claim form and the follow-up correspondence, and a list that grows between them is the fastest way to lose an otherwise honest claim.

• Receipts, card statements and serial numbers carry the most weight.
• Give the age and condition of each item, not just a replacement price.
• Keep the list identical across the report, the claim form and later emails.
• Say clearly where an item cannot be receipted rather than filling the gap.

Where the police report fits

Airlines often ask for a police report, and travel insurers almost always do. It is worth understanding what it is for. A police report is corroboration: it records that you reported a theft, on a date, with a description. It is not what makes the carrier liable, and its absence does not remove a claim the Convention gives you.

The practical answer is to file one where you can, especially if an insurance policy may end up paying part of the loss, and to do it at the airport or the local station rather than after returning home. Note the reference number and attach it to the airline claim.

What to resist is being sent away with the claim. If an airline responds to a pilferage report by telling you it is a police matter and nothing more, the reply is to ask, in writing, for its decision on the baggage claim under Article 17(2) and for the provision it relies on if it declines. The carrier's own liability is not discharged by a criminal investigation into who took the items.

• File a police report where possible, at the airport or locally.
• Record the reference and attach it to the airline claim.
• A police report corroborates the loss; it does not create or replace the carrier's liability.
• Ask for a written decision on the baggage claim if the airline defers to the police.

How much can be recovered

The ceiling is the same one that applies to any baggage claim. Article 22(2) caps the carrier's liability for destruction, loss, damage or delay of baggage at a fixed number of Special Drawing Rights per passenger, currently 1,519 SDR under the ICAO revision effective from December 2024, roughly 1,800 euros depending on the rate. That cap covers the whole bag, so a pilferage loss and damage to the suitcase itself share one ceiling.

Inside the cap you recover documented loss, and for used items that generally means value at the time of the loss rather than the price of a new replacement. This is the point where a claim built on receipts stops being an assertion.

If genuinely valuable property has to travel in the hold, Article 22(2) provides the special declaration of interest in delivery: declared at check-in, with a supplementary sum where the carrier requires one, it moves the limit to the declared amount. It has to be done when the bag is handed over, which is exactly when nobody thinks of it, and it is the only route the treaty gives for raising the ceiling.

• 1,519 SDR per passenger covers the bag and its contents together.
• Used items are valued at the time of loss, not at replacement cost.
• A special declaration at check-in is the only way to raise the ceiling.

The deadlines, and the one that ends everything

Article 31(2) requires the written complaint within 7 days of receipt for damage to checked baggage, and 21 days for delay. Because missing contents are loss of part of the baggage rather than a delay, the safe assumption is the 7-day window, and a number of carriers state that deadline for missing items in their own conditions.

Article 31(4) is unforgiving about what follows: if no complaint is made within those times, no action shall lie against the carrier, save in the case of fraud on its part. That is why the written complaint goes in first and the argument about evidence happens afterwards.

Article 35 closes the file entirely. The right to damages is extinguished if an action is not brought within two years from the date of arrival, the date the aircraft ought to have arrived, or the date on which the carriage stopped. Correspondence with the airline does not extend it.

• Treat missing contents as the 7-day written complaint window.
• Check whether the carrier states its own, shorter, missing-items deadline.
• Missing the window bars the action entirely, absent fraud.
• Two years from arrival to bring a legal action under Article 35.

What to keep on file

A pilferage claim is decided on the paper trail, because there is no damaged bag for anyone to inspect. Build the file the same day.

• the report reference from the baggage hall and the exact time it was raised
• photographs of the bag, its lock or zip, and any security inspection notice
• the itemised contents list, with age and condition, written once
• receipts, card statements, serial numbers and order confirmations
• the police report reference where one was filed
• the arrival date, which starts both the complaint window and the two-year limit