Originally Posted by
LeisureFirst
More important than the exact value of limits is the ease of claiming. Asking for receipts and so forth is totally unreasonable. Maybe the only workable answer is a standardized amount, paid out quickly if baggage is lost for more than 30 days, with the option for passengers to pay a small extra fee for a higher level of insurance if they have especially valuable luggage. BA also need to rapidly compensate people whose luggage is delayed with payments to cover interim purchases.
Asking for receipts is standard with any claiming procedure - and BA (at the moment, due to the volumes and disruption this has caused) aren't asking for receipts. When things return to normal, they will be - as would your insurance company, for example. There has always been the option to pay a fee at check in if your luggage contains especially valuable items, which increases the amount payable under Montreal convention:
"Passengers may elect to declare a value for carriage and pay a supplementary charge known as the Excess Value Charge. This is not an insurance premium since the airline will meet claims only if legally required to do so. The legal liability is then increased to the value declared with a maximum valuation of 2,000 SDRs per passenger"
This is payable at check in and is very minimal - IIRC approx $0.50 per $100 value