rtah100

Having read BA's conditions of carriage (but not the various Conventions), there is a case for them to answer:

A) BA's view of their liability
"
15e) Our liability for damage to baggage

15e1) We are not liable for damage to unchecked baggage (other than damage caused by delay which is covered by clause 15e4 below), unless the damage was caused by our negligence or the negligence of our agents.

15e2) Our liability for damage to your baggage, including damage caused by delay, is limited by the convention to 1,000 SDRs (approximately £820) except where you prove that the damage resulted from an act or omission by us or our agents carried out either:

- with the intention of causing damage; or
- recklessly and with knowledge that damage would probably result, and you prove that our employees or agents responsible for the act or omission were acting within the scope of their employment."

So: you need to prove that they or their agents were negligent, and if you want more than £820 you need to prove the negligence was reckless but, in the case of agents, "not a frolic of their own" (marvellous phrase).

What is decisive is the condition of your luggage. Why was it so wet and mouldy? Where had BA been keeping it? It strikes me as negligent and reckless to keep luggage in the rain at any point. If you can prove the condition of the luggage when you received it, you may as well fill in a small claims court form in the UK. You can do it online.

Be prepared to furnish a lot of proof. You really need photographs and witness statements from third parties, e.g. family and dry cleaners etc. and preferably forms of complaint at the time of receipt to identified BA staff

B) Common law v statutory view of BA's liability:

Do the conventions cover BA's liability at any point or merely when in the process of physically flying you? Is ground handling something for which the conventions limit BA's liability?

If your bags were badly stored / lost in transit or on arrival by BA, and the conventions do not cover their liability, they have a straightforward duty to you as your bailee, i.e. the temporary custodian of your goods. You can sue them for their failure to return the articles as was. There is a famous case involving dry cleaning and (I think) a damaged/lost fur coat.

mia

The word "negligent" appears in the section discussing cabin baggage...

15e1) We are not liable for damage to unchecked baggage (other than damage caused by delay which is covered by clause 15e4 below), unless the damage was caused by our negligence or the negligence of our agents.

Checked baggage requires proof that the damage was intentional or reckless, which would be more difficult:

15e2) Our liability for damage to your baggage, including damage caused by delay, is limited by the convention to 1,000 SDRs (approximately £820) except where you prove that the damage resulted from an act or omission by us or our agents carried out either:

- with the intention of causing damage; or
- recklessly and with knowledge that damage would probably result, and you prove that our employees or agents responsible for the act or omission were acting within the scope of their employment."

matthewuk

Historically a lot of 'bundled' travel insurance policies and those sold at airports have been very poor value - either forced upon someone buying a holiday at very high price or sold in an airport to people who think they are gong to die flying that day.

If you are travelling a lot (be it on business, leisure, domestic, international, whatever) a good policy is absolutely essential. Not least because of such things as medical coverage and repatriation.

These days a lot of people are interested with delayed and lost baggage coverage due to the current a real issues being widely reported - there is a lot of chatter on this board about this! A decent yearly travel insurance should cover you adequately (pick the one with the benefits and coverage that suit your requirements). Cards such as the Amex BA Premium credit card can also offer additional coverage for flights booked on the card for such things as delayed baggage.

It will be interesting where this ultimately goes - I can imagine some insurance companies are going to start making claims on BA when the see how much they are paying out. At the very least I imagine they will be claiming the minimum statutory payments from them when they have paid their claimants. Wouldn't surprise me if baggage delay and lost baggage limits were eventually squeezed on many policies or increased excesses applied to encourage folk to claim from the airlines.

kpriestnal

Something else to consider is your house contents insurance. I use this facility. I presently have cover for £8000 for goods lost outside the house.

frankvb

As far as I understand (at least in case of baggage delays) your insurer will already claim the money they pay out to you from the airline. My last claim (with the Amex Plat insurance) requested proof of delay from the airline (BA), which would be perfectly suited for them to reclaim the cost. Another time I simply claimed directly with the airline (KLM) and they paid out quickly, though in that case it was simply an excessive delayed flight, which I don't think would have qualified for anything on the travel insurance.

And frankly as insurance companies will always try to recover the payouts they have to make (as that directly influences their profit margin), it seems extremely unlikely that they will ignore the airline's liability. At the moment my contents & building insurance is about to sue the builder of my house to recover the repair cost due to a water leak.

KVS

Yes, the Montreal Convention covers the entire period:

http://www.jus.uio.no/lm/air.carriag...al.1999/doc#74

bronco122

Just a few more trips in J and I will be a gold.

Most of it is the routes that I fly - BA has the only non-stop and they make you pay a arm and a leg for the privilege.. That plus my company travel policy states that I must always buy the cheapest ticket (non-flexible), and then when the something business wise comes up, I have to change the flight date and pay through the nose for that. So some of that 100K is for changing dates, and no extra Tier points for that!

bronco122

Thanks for all the advice on insurance everyone. I will be sure to look into it and see what is best for my travel patterns. I never realized so many people had it!

I would only need it for lost or delayed baggage as my company fully covers me medically for any travel that I do.

spotwelder

15e) Our liability for damage to baggage

15e1) We are not liable for damage to unchecked baggage (other than damage caused by delay which is covered by clause 15e4 below), unless the damage was caused by our negligence or the negligence of our agents.
Your baggage was "checked" so this does not apply

15e2) Our liability for damage to your baggage, including damage caused by delay, is limited by the convention to 1,000 SDRs (approximately £820) except where you prove that the damage resulted from an act or omission by us or our agents carried out either:

- with the intention of causing damage; or
- recklessly and with knowledge that damage would probably result, and you prove that our employees or agents responsible for the act or omission were acting within the scope of their employment.
If you were to have a case against BA having your "case" then study this carefully. Do you considered that BA acted recklessly in booking so many passengers through LHR without the capability to handle their luggage and with insufficient back-up/contingency procedures to sort out any disruption? Do you consider that BA took all reasonable precautions and that during any reasonable delay, BA took care of your luggage in a warm, humidity controlled environment, secure environment. Do you consider reports of luggage left outside in the rain as credible and that your luggage may not have been kept in a reasonable location?

15e3) If you complete a special declaration of higher value at check-in and pay the applicable fee, our liability shall be limited to the higher declared value. You did not appear to have done this, so you are limited to the 1000 SDR value, unless you prove e2 above

15e4) We are not liable for damage to baggage caused by delay if we prove that we and our agents took all reasonable measures to avoid the damage or that it was impossible for us or our agents to take such measures. Do you consider that the number of passengers passing through T4 was reasonable? Would you make a link between movement of Gatwick flights to LHR and the passenger numbers passing through T4 as still within capacity? Do you consider statements such as "Heathrow is bursting at the seams" as completely wild overstatement by people who have no knowledge of passing through there, or merely press speculation? For example, on the resignation of Tony Douglas, the Guardian reported "The boss of Heathrow, who recently labelled the state of the world's busiest international airport as 'unacceptable', has resigned".

Some of the e4 comments belong with e2 but I do not know your "case". I cannot state any further points, nor the success that passengers may, or may not, have had using such arguments. Any conclusions you reach are your own.

Brussels traveller

You may be covered by Amex for the damage. I use a corporate Amex card for business travel and they have picked up the tab for damage in the past. Yours may not be a corporate Amex but its worth checking with their customer service anyway. I know how you feel. Best of luck!