British AirwaysBritish Airways lost, delayed or damaged luggage: how to report it and claim
British Airways lost baggage claims run on two sets of dates. BA’s baggage pages say that delayed bags should be reported within 8 days of your flight, and that is BA’s process. The Montreal Convention sets the legal written-complaint deadlines: 7 days from receiving a damaged bag, 21 days from a delayed bag being placed at your disposal. Miss those and, under article 31(4), no action lies against BA unless there is fraud.
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The convention rules for every airline are in the lost and delayed baggage compensation guide; BA’s other passenger-rights pages are on the British Airways page.
#How do you report a delayed bag to British Airways?
8 days from your flight is the window BA’s baggage pages give for reporting a delayed bag. BA says many of its airports have a baggage desk for the report; if you have already left the airport, its online baggage portal takes it. BA says it returns most missing bags within 72 hours.
Source: BA, reporting baggage problems — britishairways.com, checked 2026-10-20.
The 8 days is BA’s process, not a legal deadline. It also applies when a cancellation left your bags behind: report them in the portal and BA says it sends them on.
At the airport, BA’s FAQ says, you create the report with an agent or, where available, at a self-service kiosk in the baggage reclaim area; for Heathrow terminals, see the Heathrow airport page. For the portal, have ready your baggage tag numbers, details of every flight in the journey, a description of the bag, your contact details and a delivery address.
Heathrow terminals, see the BA’s report number has five letters and five numbers, such as JFKBA12345; it is not your check-in baggage receipt. If BA already knows the bag missed its flight, it says it sends that number by email or text. BA calls the record a missing baggage report; the CAA’s list of baggage papers uses the generic name, property irregularity report.
CAA’s list of baggage papers uses the generic name, BA’s FAQ says the report goes into WorldTracer, the baggage tracking system. BA’s tracking page lets you check the status, add details, update your contact and delivery details (a hotel can be a temporary address) and share an AirTag location link, which expires after 7 days.
Source: BA, baggage FAQs and reporting baggage problems — britishairways.com, checked 2026-10-20.
BA says it returns a found bag to any address you choose at no charge, subject to local customs requirements. You fill in any customs forms at a BA baggage desk; none is needed, it says, if you did not travel or your flight was cancelled, or if the journey was within the UK or between the UK and an EU country.
UK or between the 
EU country.Raise the report at the desk before you leave the airport whenever a desk is open.
#When does a delayed BA bag count as lost?
21 days after the date your bag was due, you may treat it as lost under article 17(3) of the Montreal Convention. You may do so sooner if BA admits the loss. Until one of those happens, the bag counts as delayed, and the written-complaint rules for delay apply.
Source: Montreal Convention 1999, art. 17(3) — eur-lex.europa.eu, checked 2026-09-15.
The 21 days appear twice, with different starting points. The lost-bag clock starts on the date the bag was due. The delay-complaint clock starts when the bag is placed at your disposal: article 31(2) gives 21 days from that date, and BA’s conditions of carriage (clause 16c) say you must complain in writing “within 21 days at the latest of the checked baggage being made available to you”.
Source: BA General Conditions of Carriage, clause 16c — britishairways.com, checked 2026-10-20; Montreal Convention art. 31(2) — eur-lex.europa.eu, checked 2026-09-15.
BA’s claims page uses 21 days too. It lists “Baggage reported as missing for more than 21 days” among the things you can claim for, and says a claim for a missing bag needs a report made “within 21 days of the bag going missing”. The reporting page still asks for 8 days from your flight, so report within 8. Neither BA window is a legal deadline.
For essentials bought while you wait, the claims page lists “toiletries and basics when a bag is delayed, up to a reasonable value”, with receipts; it names no amount. BA’s conditions (clause 15e2) put “damage caused by delay” inside the baggage limit. The page also suggests asking your travel insurer first, since a personal policy will likely give more cover. Once the bag counts as lost, send BA a written claim with an itemised list of the contents and whatever proof of purchase you have.
Source: BA, making baggage claims, reporting baggage problems and General Conditions of Carriage, clause 15e2 — britishairways.com, checked 2026-10-20.
Diary day 21 from the date the bag was due, and send the written claim that day if the bag is still missing.
#How do you claim for a damaged BA bag or missing contents?
7 days from receiving your bag is the deadline BA’s baggage pages give for reporting damage or missing contents, and the convention sets the same 7 days for a written complaint about damaged checked baggage. If you are still at the airport, BA asks you to tell a member of staff before you leave.
Source: BA, reporting baggage problems and making baggage claims — britishairways.com, checked 2026-10-20; Montreal Convention art. 31(2) — eur-lex.europa.eu, checked 2026-09-15.
If you have already left, BA’s page sends you to its online report-and-claim form. Keep the damaged bag: BA says it may be needed to verify and complete your claim, and its claims page says you may be offered a repair or a replacement bag, so talk to BA before you throw the bag away or buy a new one. Problems caused by a US baggage inspection, the page says, should be raised directly with the US TSA.
US baggage inspection, the page says, should be raised directly with the Clause 16b of BA’s conditions asks for a written complaint “immediately you discover the damage and at the latest, within seven days from the date you received the checked baggage”. Miss the convention deadline and, under article 31(4), no action lies against the carrier unless there is fraud on its part.
Source: BA General Conditions of Carriage, clause 16b — britishairways.com, checked 2026-10-20; Montreal Convention art. 31(2)-(4) — eur-lex.europa.eu, checked 2026-09-15.
BA’s baggage hub says it does not accept liability for fragile, valuable or perishable articles, or for baggage packed in damaged or unsuitable containers. It adds that under its Conditions of Carriage it accepts no liability for the loss of jewellery, other valuables and money in checked baggage. These are BA’s terms, not the convention’s, and BA strongly recommends travel insurance.
Source: BA, lost and damaged baggage hub — britishairways.com, checked 2026-10-20.
Photograph the damage before you leave the airport and send the written complaint the same day.
#How much will BA pay for lost or damaged luggage?
1,519 SDR per passenger is the Montreal Convention cap on BA’s liability for destroyed, lost, damaged or delayed baggage, unless you declared a higher value in advance. BA’s conditions of carriage put it at “approximately £1,575”. Its baggage hub says “the extent of airline liability is not based on the weight of the bag nor its value”.
Source: Montreal Convention 1999, art. 22(2) — eur-lex.europa.eu; ICAO 2024 revised limits — icao.int, checked 2026-09-15; BA General Conditions of Carriage, clause 15e2 and lost and damaged baggage hub — britishairways.com, checked 2026-10-20.
BA baggage fact | Deadline or amount |
|---|---|
Report a delayed bag (BA’s process) | Within 8 days of your flight |
Report damage or missing contents (BA’s process) | Within 7 days of receiving the bag |
Written complaint, damaged bag (convention) | Within 7 days of receiving the bag |
Written complaint, delayed bag (convention) | Within 21 days of the bag being placed at your disposal |
Bag treated as lost (convention) | 21 days after it was due, or earlier if BA admits the loss |
Liability limit per passenger | 1,519 SDR (BA’s own sterling approximations: about £1,575 or £1,600) |
Time limit to sue | 2 years from arrival, or from when the aircraft ought to have arrived |
Source: Montreal Convention arts. 17(3), 22(2), 31 and 35 — eur-lex.europa.eu, checked 2026-09-15; BA, reporting baggage problems and General Conditions of Carriage, clauses 15 to 17 — britishairways.com, checked 2026-10-20.
BA gives two sterling figures for the one limit. Clause 15e2 says “approximately £1,575”; its notice of liability says “approximately GB £1,600” for destruction, loss or damage and “approximately GB £1,575” for delay. The SDR figure is the convention’s; the pounds are BA’s own approximations.
Clause 15e3 lets you raise the cap by declaring a higher value at check-in and paying BA’s fee; the limit then becomes the declared value. Under article 22(5) the cap also falls away if you prove BA or its agents acted with intent to cause damage, or recklessly and with knowledge that damage would probably result. On a journey with more than one airline, clause 15g1 says a checked-baggage claim may go to the first or last carrier, or to the one performing the carriage when the damage happened.
Source: BA General Conditions of Carriage, clauses 15e2 to 15g1 and notice of liability — britishairways.com, checked 2026-10-20; Montreal Convention art. 22(5) — eur-lex.europa.eu, checked 2026-09-15.
List each item with its price and proof of purchase before you send your British Airways baggage claim.
#What can you do if BA rejects your baggage claim?
12 months from BA’s final response is the window BA’s conditions of carriage (clause 19a) give for taking a complaint to CEDR, the alternative dispute resolution scheme British Airways and BA CityFlyer belong to. The same clause sends the complaint to BA Customer Relations first, with CEDR as the next step.
CEDR, the alternative dispute resolution scheme Source: BA General Conditions of Carriage, clause 19a — britishairways.com, checked 2026-10-20; CAA, alternative dispute resolution — caa.co.uk, checked 2026-09-15.
The CAA’s complaints team, PACT, handles Montreal Convention baggage complaints once you have complained to the airline in writing and are not satisfied, or have had no reply within 8 weeks. The CAA says it is only likely to consider a complaint if the airline is not a member of an approved ADR body, so for BA the route is CEDR. PACT also will not handle a complaint when less than a year remains to take legal action.
Source: CAA, how the CAA can help — caa.co.uk, checked 2026-09-15.
Keep the papers the CAA lists for baggage complaints: correspondence, flight details, receipts, proof of address, the property irregularity report and itemised lists.
The convention’s two-year time limit to sue runs from arrival at the destination, the date the aircraft ought to have arrived, or the date the carriage stopped; after it, the right to damages is extinguished. Clause 17 of BA’s conditions repeats the two years. The Montreal Convention guide sets out the rule.
Source: Montreal Convention art. 35(1) — eur-lex.europa.eu, checked 2026-09-15; BA General Conditions of Carriage, clause 17 — britishairways.com, checked 2026-10-20.
Diary the date two years after arrival on the day your bag goes missing.
Not your situation? If you left something on board or in the airport rather than checking it in, BA says it has no central lost property team: items go to the airport’s lost property service. For a BA lounge, an arriving BA aircraft or the terminals at Heathrow, BA sends you to Smarte Carte, Heathrow’s lost-property agent; at Gatwick it names the Excess Baggage Company (01293 223457 or lostproperty.org). BA says an administrative or storage fee and postage may apply. For a cancelled or delayed BA flight rather than a bag, read the British Airways refund page.
GatwickSource: BA, lost property — britishairways.com, checked 2026-10-20.
General information, not legal advice. For your specific case, contact the CAA or Citizens Advice.
Citizens Advice.#Sources
All sources checked 2026-10-20 unless a line says otherwise.
- Montreal Convention 1999, arts. 17, 22, 31 and 35 — eur-lex.europa.eu (checked 2026-09-15).
- ICAO, 2024 revised limits of liability — icao.int (checked 2026-09-15).
- British Airways, reporting baggage problems — britishairways.com.
- British Airways, lost and damaged baggage — britishairways.com.
- British Airways, making baggage claims — britishairways.com.
- British Airways, baggage FAQs — britishairways.com.
- British Airways, lost property — britishairways.com.
- British Airways, General Conditions of Carriage — britishairways.com.
- British Airways, notice of liability — britishairways.com.
- CAA, how the CAA can help — caa.co.uk (checked 2026-09-15).
- CAA, alternative dispute resolution — caa.co.uk (checked 2026-09-15).