A bag that comes back lighter is a damage claim, not a lost-baggage claim. Article 17(2) of the Montreal Convention makes the carrier liable for damage to checked baggage that happened while the bag was in its charge, Article 31(2) gives you seven days from receipt to complain in writing, and Article 22(2) caps it at 1,519 SDR per passenger.
[Your full name]
[Your address]
[Email]
[Phone]
[Today's date]
[Airline name] — Baggage Claims
[Airline claims address or online claim form]
Re: Items missing from checked baggage, Montreal Convention Article 17
Flight [Flight number]
Route [Departure airport] to [Final destination airport]
Date of flight [Flight date]
Booking reference [Booking reference]
PIR reference [PIR reference]
Bag tag number [Bag tag number]
Dear Sir or Madam,
My checked bag on flight [Flight number] was delivered to me at
[Final destination airport] on [Date you landed] with items missing from
inside it. The bag was
[opened and re-closed / damaged at the zip / intact but lighter].
I reported this before leaving the airport and was given Property
Irregularity Report reference [PIR reference].
Under Article 17(2) of the Montreal Convention 1999 the carrier is
liable for damage sustained in case of destruction or loss of, or of
damage to, checked baggage on condition only that the event which caused
it took place on board the aircraft or during any period within which
the baggage was in the charge of the carrier. Partial loss of the
contents is damage of that kind. This letter is the written complaint
required by Article 31(2) and is sent within seven days of the bag being
placed at my disposal.
The following items were missing, with proof of purchase or value
enclosed for each:
[Item] [Currency] [Item value]
[Item] [Currency] [Item value]
[Item] [Currency] [Item value]
Total [Currency] [Total]
The sum claimed is within the per-passenger limit in Article 22(2) as
revised with effect from 28 December 2024. I have
[reported the theft to the police / not reported it to the police].
Please pay [Currency] [Total] within 14 days to: [Payment details], and
quote [Reference number] in your reply.
Yours faithfully,
[Signature]
[Your full name]
How to use it
- Open the bag at the airport if you can, and report it before you pass customs. Leaving first makes the airline’s job easier.
- Photograph the bag, the zips, the lock and any security tape before you unpack anything else.
- List items one by one with what each cost and when you bought it. Vague totals get vague offers.
- Send it within seven days of receiving the bag, even if some receipts are still missing.
- Add anything the airline needs to trace it: the tag, the boarding pass and the report reference.
Seven days, because this is damage. Article 31(2) allows twenty-one days only for delay; damage to checked baggage gets seven days from receipt, and Article 31(4) says that if no complaint is made in time, no action lies against the carrier except in the case of fraud. Miss it and the airline can end the claim on the date alone. The general version of this clock is in the damaged baggage letter.
Is theft from a bag really treated as damage?
Yes, for the purpose of the deadline. Article 17(2) covers destruction, loss and damage to checked baggage in one sentence, and the bag itself came back — so the twenty-one-day delay clock does not apply. Treat it as damage, write within seven days, and you never have to argue about which limb of Article 31 you were on.
Do I need a police report?
Not to claim. Nothing in the Convention requires one, and the airline’s liability does not depend on anyone being prosecuted. A report can still help: it fixes the date, it satisfies some insurers, and it is hard for a carrier to dismiss. Say in the letter whether you filed one, and never delay the seven-day letter while waiting for a police reference.
How do I prove what was in the bag?
With ordinary paperwork: card statements, order confirmations, photographs from the trip, and the serial numbers of anything electronic. Airlines apply depreciation to used items, so claim the replacement cost and expect a negotiation. Read your carrier’s conditions of carriage before you send it — where they exclude an item from checked baggage, the airline will raise that exclusion in its reply.
If the answer is a flat refusal, take the file to the national enforcement body with the report reference and the item list attached. For a bag that never came back at all, use the lost baggage letter; for the limits, the SDR and the two-year deadline for court action, read the Montreal Convention baggage guide. If you were carrying something worth more than the limit, the special declaration is what raises the ceiling next time.