I had a permanent lost luggage situation with NW several years back. I can tell you with them, the "claim" price was only the purchased value of items lost and not the replacement value (ie. I needed to get the receipts for the items that I lost). I don't know if this is regulated by the government? There is a cap for all contents (like $2500 for domestic, and $800 if international). I was able to download a claim form on-line with NW. There was also a 10% devaluation, based on each year owned - so it pays to claim newer stuff. You might want to check the government website (ie. FAA) first.