Delayed or lost baggage: what the airline has to pay
Baggage has no fixed payout like flight delays. The airline pays your proven loss, up to a limit set in Special Drawing Rights.
Maximum refunded (Montreal Convention)
€1,200
Liability limit 1,519 SDR = €1,834 · IMF rate of 21 October 2026
Write to the airline within as soon as possible; a bag counts as lost after 21 days. Court time limit: 2 years.
Prepared by Radif Partners · Method · law as of October 22, 2026 · 4,008 airports (OurAirports)
Baggage claims are not governed by EU261 or UK261 but by the Montreal Convention, which the EU and the UK also apply to domestic flights. The airline is liable for checked bags that arrive late, are damaged or are lost, without you having to prove fault. It pays the actual loss you can document, up to 1,519 Special Drawing Rights per passenger, a limit in force since 28 December 2024. The Special Drawing Right is a unit of the International Monetary Fund, and the calculator above converts it into pounds, euros or Canadian dollars at the latest published rate. The deadlines are short: report damage in writing within 7 days of receiving the bag, and a delay within 21 days of the bag being placed at your disposal. If the bag has not turned up after 21 days, it is treated as lost and you can claim for it. Court action must be started within two years of arrival. Higher values are protected only if you made a special declaration of interest at check-in and paid any supplement. Flight compensation for a delay is a separate claim on top.
The limit in your currency
Since 28 December 2024 the baggage limit has been 1,519 SDR per passenger (revised by ICAO, table certified in UK SI 2025/123; see also the Canadian Transportation Agency notice). At the latest IMF rates that is £1,538 (21 October 2026), €1,834 (21 October 2026) or $2,892 (20 October 2026). It is a ceiling, not a payout: you receive what you can prove, and for used items that means their current value, not the price of new ones.
| Problem | Written notice | Limit (GBP) |
|---|---|---|
| Bag damaged | within 7 days of receipt | £1,538 |
| Bag delayed | within 21 days of delivery | £1,538 |
| Bag lost | treated as lost after 21 days | £1,538 |
| Court action | within 2 years of arrival | – |
Your loss against the airline’s limit
Maximum
£1,538
| Limit 1,519 SDR | £1,538 |
IMF rate of 21 October 2026
What to do, in order
Before leaving the baggage hall, report the missing or damaged bag at the desk of the airline or its handling agent and get a reference. Photograph any damage before you take the bag away. Then send the airline a written claim within 7 or 21 days, with a list of items, their value, receipts where you have them, the boarding pass and the bag tag. Keep receipts for anything you buy while you wait.
Baggage and flight compensation together
Compensation for a delayed or cancelled flight under EU261 or UK261 is a separate right and is not set off against the baggage claim. If your bag arrives late because the flight was four hours late, you can claim both. Delay to passengers themselves has its own, higher Montreal limit of 6,303 SDR, for example for a hotel night you lost.
If the airline will not pay
In the UK, baggage complaints can go to the approved dispute body the airline belongs to, or to the CAA; in Germany to the arbitration body under section 57 LuftVG. See how to escalate a claim. The two-year period for court action is a strict cut-off, much shorter than the six years in England and Wales for flight compensation: see claim time limits.