As travel has opened up, staff and students on University-approved travel have reported a rise in incidences of lost or delayed luggage on their trips.  The University appreciates this can be very stressful for staff and students.  The process for claiming compensation or financial assistance, is as follows:

Airline Responsibility

Airlines are always responsible for looking after luggage, from check in, through to the point of collection at the baggage hall.  If your luggage is lost or damaged, airlines are legally obliged under the Montreal Convention to pay you compensation. Usually, they will declare a bag lost after 28 days, but this timeframe is currently much longer.

If your luggage is lost, delayed, or damaged while you are travelling on approved University business, you must contact your airline immediately.  This process is explained on the NI Direct website:

University Insurers (UMAL) Responsibility

Queen’s University Travel cover has a provision for luggage losses.  However UMAL will not accept claims for lost or damaged luggage until compensation has been made by the airline, or written communication been received from airline, confirming they will not be paying any compensation and explaining why.

In a case where a claim is made to UMAL, staff/students will require confirmation of the airline’s compensation calculation in addition to the usual supporting documentation (receipts etc).

UMAL will also accept claims for the purchases of essential clothing and toiletry articles if luggage is delayed in excess of 12 hours. “But this will be retrospective, and only if a claim process against the airline has been exhausted, and subject to sight of a PIR (property irregularity report) and receipts.”

Any claim paid in respect of luggage delay will be deducted from any claim for lost luggage.

University/School Financial Assistance

The claims process may be very long, and the University appreciates that if your luggage is delayed or lost, you may require an immediate financial loan to purchase essentials.  If this is the case, you should contact your School, as a matter of urgency, to see what financial and other support they can offer.

If you require additional information on the Insurance process, please email insurance@qub.ac.uk.