How To Claim Insurance For Lost Baggage?

HOW TO CLAIM INSURANCE FOR LOST BAGGAGE?

Imagine a scenario where you are going on a long trip with your family. You de-board the plane and are eager to hop into the taxi after collecting your luggage from the collection counter. However, your luggage doesn’t show up on the carousel. You wait for a while hoping that it will eventually show up. Five minutes turn in ten minutes and then, fifteen. Your impatience first turns into anxiety and then, Panic. You realize that your luggage has got misplaced during transit.

Relax. It was just an imagination exercise. But it can get real.

To lose luggage during the journey is every traveler’s worst nightmare. Other than ticket and travel documents, people pack almost everything including clothes, house keys, daily use medicines, important files and documents, spare shoes, etc. in the check-in luggage. Therefore, no traveler would want to and in a situation where he or she has to spend time searching for lost luggage at the airport.

In fact, even a piece of missing luggage can turn an otherwise memorable trip into a hellish experience. Perhaps, this is the reason why travel insurance has emerged as one of the most sought-after insurance policies by people going on a journey.

A good travel insurance policy is one that not only provides cover in case of medical emergency, flight delay, or cancellation but also compensates the traveler for the loss of baggage. Interestingly though, not many people are aware of the process of making insurance claim on travel insurance.

In this blog, we provide you with important points that you should keep in mind in order to make your baggage insurance claim a success.

BE PREPARED

There is an old saying, “Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.” For any insurance claim to be accepted by the company, it is essential that the person making the claim has all the relevant documents available to him or her. These include documents such as travel insurance papers, luggage tags, flight tickets, and boarding passes. Travelers are advised to keep the documents needed during baggage insurance claims in their hand luggage. They should also save a scanned copy of those documents as well as a snapshot of their luggage in their email ID for retrieval in the future.

STAY CALM

It often happens in case of baggage loss that people lose their cool and start lashing out at the airline staff. Such an act might suit those who didn’t purchase travel insurance and now find themselves in a quandary. They have no other option but to pray and hope that somehow their luggage gets located. For those who have travel insurance, there is no need to panic or get agitated.

GET PROPERTY IRREGULARITY REPORT (PIR)

Before you call up the insurance provider to make a claim on luggage insurance, you must get a PIR about your baggage loss. This is the first document that any travel insurance company seeks from a traveler. You can get the PIR from the airline company in which you were traveling. You are strongly advised not to leave the airport or the luggage collection area before getting a PIR.

It is normal for airline companies to take some time before issuing a Property Irregularity Report. There is no need to panic or get agitated if they do not issue a PIR immediately. It is natural for airline companies to try and verify the claim and, if possible, do a preliminary search for the missing luggage at the collection counter. One should keep his or her cool and cooperate with the airline staff.

CONTACT YOUR INSURANCE PROVIDER

The next step after getting a Property Irregularity Report is to contact the travel insurance provider. Every travel insurance document has a 24×7 helpline number that clients can call to make insurance claims. One is advised to keep the travel insurance number handy during the call.

The travel insurance company may compensate the client in the following ways:

• a) It may either provide financial support through reimbursement for meals, medicines and personal necessities while the airline company searches for the missing luggage or
• b) Compensate for the luggage to the amount of sum insured if the baggage is deemed as lost by the airline company. The company will ask you for documents such as a boarding pass, luggage tag, tracking card and some other proofs of airline purchases. Make sure that you save the bills with you for claiming a maximum amount. The insurance company will verify your status by getting in touch with the airline staff and reimburse the maximum amount as per your insurance policy.

Claiming for an amount due to lost luggage is just one of the main features of any travel insurance plan, so it is always advisable to take travel insurance before any travel, domestic or international, to enjoy great benefits in case of any mis-happenings during transit.

Taking Insurance plans from a leading provider like Student Cover can help you claim any insurance benefit in the most hassle-free way possible. Visit our website to learn more about our products and services.