Unsatisfied baggage claim

I fully compliment Christopher Holmes (March 15) for his letter on theft from his luggage.

On February 12, I, together with five members of my family, flew with Air Malta from Malta International Airport to Fiumicino in Rome for a week's holiday. Since we arrived early from Gozo, we checked in at 8.45 a.m. for the flight which left on schedule at 9.50 a.m. We landed at Fiumicino at around 11.15 a.m. We left the aircraft and proceeded to collect our luggage from the reclaim area. As the airport was busy, we waited for about 15 minutes until the baggage started moving on the carousel.

As soon as I, together with most of the group, picked up our luggage, I noticed that mine had been tampered with. My padlock, being a heavy-duty one, could not be easily broken but then the luggage loops gave way.

I immediately unzipped my luggage to find that my digital camera, a Minolta Dimage V, together with battery, charger and even the camera manual had been stolen.

I reported the theft to the officer in charge at Fiumicino Airport, where after the customary details, I was told to report my theft to the airline office on arriving in Malta.

While still in Rome I managed to visit the Air Malta office at Via Barberini and filed my theft report there.

On February 20, I reported my theft to the insurance agency in Gozo. A week later I received a letter from the insurance agency informing me that the insurance was happy to settle my claim by giving me Lm20 as a replacement of the damaged suitcase. The insurance agency could not be held responsible for the missing camera.

I also received a letter from Air Malta Baggage Claims. What they asked for was whether I carried any insurance, which I replied in the affirmative.

The insurance company insists it is not to be held responsible for valuables (a camera is classified as one) stolen when a baggage is in transit.

No further letters have been forwarded from the airline's claims department.

No one likes to have personal items stolen from a locked suitcase. Whenever this happens the victim has to be reimbursed, either by the insurance agency or the airline, otherwise why the hassle of paying to be covered when going on holiday.