KLM damaged baggage compensation.
Are you even entitled to a compensation? What are the rules?
Sometimes baggage gets damaged. We are not talking about scratches, small dents and other signs of use on your suitcase. For this kind of minor damage, KLM is not responsible. However, KLM can be held accountable for serious damage such as broken wheels and handles and other serious problems, such as holes or even cracks.
What to do if your luggage is damaged?
What to Do If Your Luggage Is Damaged?
First things first, report the damage.
Don’t leave the baggage reclaim area (baggage hall), and try to find Baggage Service Office. It’s often located in the baggage hall right next to baggage carousels. There you can file a report for damage to your bag.
Prepare your passport and boarding pass. Bring your damaged bag. Fill in the report and you will be told what to do next. Most probably, the airline will repair your bag free of charge. If your suitcase or bag is irreparable, KLM will replace it.
If you discover the damage after leaving the airport, at home or hotel, you can send a claim to the KLM Customer Contact Centre within 7 days after arrival. Make sure you don’t miss this deadline. It is advisable to report the damage as soon as you arrive.
KLM Damaged Baggage Compensation
What are your rights if your baggage is damaged?
Could you be entitled to KLM baggage compensation of some sort?
Damaged Baggage Compensation
If your hold baggage is damaged, you may get compensation.
KLM is liable for that, and you may get compensation of up to €1300.
The amount of compensation will depend on the value of your damaged bag. It’s supposed to cover your expenses of purchasing a new bag of the same value.
Don’t forget to register your KLM compensation claim.
The airline has to pay this compensation to your bank account. You don’t have to accept KLM compensation voucher, miles or coupons. Please note that it’s not advised to carry electronics, art, jewellery, etc., in your checked baggage, because KLM isn’t liable to compensate for the full value of such items, only to the extent defined by the Montreal Convention and its Conditions of Carriage.
If the damage is caused by some defect in the bag itself, you won’t be entitled to compensation. Also KLM is not accountable for minor damage such as scratches, small dents and other (normal) signs of use on your suitcase. Unfortunately, but that’s the realities of air travel.
Reimbursement of Expenses
In this case mostly you won’t get anything.
If your baggage is lost, and you have to replace any of necessary items, you are entitled to reimbursement for your expenses (sometimes referred to as delayed baggage compensation). You buy all these essential things, then make a claim submitting all the receipts, and KLM pays you.
You have 21 days from the day you receive your lost baggage to file a claim for reimbursement. But that applies only to situations when your baggage is lost or delayed.
Is Travel Insurance Necessary?
Is baggage insurance necessary? Yes and no.
You can definitely travel also without it.
Since KLM will be held responsible for your luggage and its safe delivery anyway. That’s because of the Montreal Convention, a treaty that applies to the carriage of baggage. It applies to most international flights of KLM and other airlines around the world.
At the same time, having a good insurance is always useful.
It may help you to get compensation quicker. When you have filed a report for damage to your bag, contact your travel insurance company, to ask them what to do next. Your travel insurance may reimburse you for the cash value or price of your luggage. You’ll need the paperwork you’ve received at Baggage Service Office to make a claim.
Please note, that not all insurance policies cover damage to your baggage. Make sure to find it out in advance, to avoid unnesessary stress and bad surprises later.
Travel Prepared
It’s always a good idea to have a plan B.
Baggage doesn’t get damaged too often. But it happens.
Hence it’s a great idea to pack a change of clothes and some underwear in your carry on. Just in case your suitcase and its contents get damaged. Also, do not pack valuable items, money, medications, documents and credit cards in your checked luggage. If your bag gets seriously damaged (like large holes or cracks), its contents may be damaged, too. Or you may even lose some of the contents.
You can also take a packable or foldable duffle bag with you. If your luggage is seriously damaged, transfer your stuff to this duffel bag. If you won’t use it for this purpose, the packable duffle bag may come in handy also if you run out of luggage space at the end of your trip.
Note that in this case, with KLM compensation for damaged baggage, just like in many other situations we are talking about on this website, it doesn’t apply only to KLM. Rules are the same for other airlines as well. In this case that’s because of the Montreal Convention, a treaty that applies to the carriage of baggage. It applies to most international flights of KLM and other airlines around the world.
Featured photo by Markus Winkler from Pexels