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Hey, Insurance Sleuth,

I’m booking a trip to Tokyo and my friend told me a horror story about her travels. The airline lost her luggage, including a week’s worth of her favorite clothes, a camera and her favorite pair of boots. After waiting weeks for the airline’s claims process, she had to submit a ton of documentation to her travel insurance company, and in the end, she was only paid a fraction of what her stuff was worth. Is filing a lost baggage insurance claim a waste of time?

— Carrie On My Wayward Bags

Dear Carrie,

You’re not wrong. A lost baggage claim can take a while and feel like a colossal hassle with diminishing returns.

For starters, baggage insurance is typically secondary, meaning you’ll start with your airline. The airline will attempt to track down your luggage and it may be days before you can file a claim with the airline. For example, you can only file a claim with American Airlines and United if your bags have been missing for five or more days.

And then you can expect to wait even longer for reimbursement—a process that generally takes between three to four weeks. The maximum amount the airline will reimburse you for a domestic flight is up to $3,800, according to the Department of Transportation. For international travel it’s about $1,700. Airlines are free to pay more than the limit, but I wouldn’t count on the airline’s charity.

And as you noted, you’re likely to receive only the depreciated value of your lost items. That’s typically the case whether you file a baggage insurance claim with your travel insurance company or with your airline.

But a lost baggage claim doesn’t need to be an endless odyssey. I reached out to a few travel insurance experts and seasoned travelers to find out how to speed up the process and get better results.

Additional Legroom Isn’t the Only Upgrade to Consider

“Some travel insurance baggage coverage is primary,” says Jason Schreier, CEO of the Travel & Event Insurance Division for Aegis General. “You won’t have to wait until the claim is settled with the airline.”

While you’ll still have to notify the airline of your lost luggage, finding a travel insurance policy that includes primary baggage coverage can significantly reduce the amount of time you’ll have to wait for reimbursement.

Schreier adds that travelers with high-value items (like electronics) can upgrade their travel insurance baggage coverage policy limits. For example, the Go Ready Choice plan by Aegis has a $500 lost baggage and personal items limit. But you can purchase baggage coverage upgrades for up to $2,000. You can also purchase upgrades for electronic and professional equipment as well as sporting equipment.

There’s No Place Like Home

“Some travel insurance companies may request that you file a claim with your homeowners or renters insurance first,” says Angela Borden, product strategist at Seven Corners. “Many people are not aware that homeowners or renters insurance can cover property while traveling.”

The off-premises portion of your home or renters insurance typically covers items that are stolen, damaged or lost, including your luggage. For example, if the airline loses your checked bag containing an expensive camera, you can file a claim under your home or renters insurance. Home insurance and renters insurance also have much higher coverage limits than travel insurance baggage coverage, which may be insufficient and only cover up to $500 for lost items.

If you file a renters or homeowners insurance claim for lost luggage, you will have to pay your deductible, which could range from $500 to $1,000 or higher. Borden notes that you may be able to recoup the deductible amount by making a travel insurance claim, so long as the item is not excluded by your travel insurance plan.

The Tedious Claims Process Can Pay Off

“The hardest part was attaching a dollar amount to everything I lost,” says Jenoa Matthes, founder and editor-in-chief of The Travel Folk, who lost her luggage in France. Matthes filed a claim with her travel insurance company for her clothes and some larger souvenirs, for which she had the receipts. While the process took a few weeks and Matthes didn’t recover 100% of what she lost, she recouped a good portion. “Overall, the process went smoothly.”

The most important thing for clients to remember is that with travel insurance, “trust me dude” is never sufficient proof. There must be some official document substantiating the claim.
–Jason Schreier, CEO, Travel & Event Insurance Division for Aegis General

If your lost item is relatively new and you have proof of purchase, you could get a better settlement, says Schreier. He adds that with many purchases made online through retailers like Amazon, Best Buy or Target, it should be easy to get your receipt.

You can even get ahead of the game by taking photos and keeping a detailed inventory of everything in your checked bags before your trip, says Stephanie Rytting, founder of France Adventurer. Rytting says this makes filing a lost baggage claim much easier and can help you negotiate a higher claims settlement. “By providing documentation and reasoning for all my claimed items, I eventually received approximately 75% reimbursement,” says Rytting.