Lost or delayed luggage: the limit is 1,519 SDR

This is not an EU261 or UK261 claim

First, the distinction that matters most: baggage is not covered by Regulation 261/2004. That regulation deals with delay, cancellation and denied boarding affecting you as a passenger. Your suitcase is governed by the Montreal Convention.

Two instruments, two claims. If your flight landed three hours late and your bag failed to turn up, you have two separate entitlements that you can pursue side by side. Neither one cancels the other, and money paid on one is not deducted from the other.

The cap: 1,519 SDR since 28 December 2024

The Montreal Convention caps the carrier’s liability for destruction, loss, damage or delay of baggage at 1,519 SDR per passenger. Until 27 December 2024 it was 1,288 SDR; ICAO reviews the limits every five years and raised them by roughly 18% at that point.

SDR stands for Special Drawing Rights, the unit of account of the International Monetary Fund. Conversion happens at the rate on the day, so there is no fixed sterling or euro figure. As a rough guide 1,519 SDR sits around £1,500 or €1,700, but it moves with the rate. Anyone quoting you a hard currency number is citing a snapshot from years ago.

It is a ceiling, not a payout

This is the second big misconception. You do not receive 1,519 SDR because your bag is gone — you recover your provable loss, up to that ceiling. For a case of clothes and toiletries that often comes out at a few hundred pounds.

Which is why receipts are everything. Keep the till receipts for replacement purchases during the delay: clothes, toiletries, a charger. For the contents of a bag that never came back, proof of purchase, photographs or even the order history in your inbox will do a great deal of work for you.

The deadlines are short — and this is where claims die

Baggage runs on three clocks, and they are far tighter than the limitation period for flight compensation:

• Report it at the airport and get a PIR (Property Irregularity Report) raised before you leave the arrivals hall
• Damaged baggage: complain in writing within 7 days of receiving the bag
• Delayed baggage: complain in writing within 21 days of the bag being delivered
• If the bag has not surfaced after 21 days, you may treat it as lost
• Going to court: 2 years from arrival (Article 35, Montreal Convention)

Need more than the cap? Possible — but only before you fly

If you are carrying something valuable you can make a special declaration of interest at check-in and pay a supplementary fee. The higher declared value then applies instead of the standard limit.

You cannot do this after the event. The flip side is worth knowing too: jewellery, laptops, cash and medication belong in your hand luggage, and many carriers exclude liability for those items in checked baggage altogether.

What we do and do not do for you

We specialise in flight compensation under EU261 and UK261 — delay, cancellation, denied boarding and missed connections. We do not handle Montreal baggage claims, and we are not going to pretend otherwise, because that claim is usually fastest and fullest when you file it yourself with the airline: no intermediary, no percentage taken off.

What we do handle: if your flight also arrived three hours late or was cancelled, we will take that part. Run the free check with your flight number and you will know straight away whether there is £220 to £520 sitting there alongside your baggage claim.

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