Norwegian lost, delayed or damaged your bag: how to claim

Updated 18 October 2026
General information, not legal advice. The outcome depends on the facts of your case.

You landed with Norwegian and your bag didn't, or it came off the belt broken. Norwegian usually has to pay for necessary purchases while you wait, for the repair or value of a damaged bag, and for the value of a bag that never arrives.

The key point with Norwegian: report it before you leave the airport, then send a separate claim on its website. The report at the airport is not enough for Norwegian. For a delayed bag you have 21 days from getting it back, for a damaged one 7 days.

We are not affiliated with Norwegian and do not act for Norwegian.

How to report it to Norwegian

• Delayed bag: report it to Norwegian's representatives at the airport or in the MyBag self-service portal. Norwegian says this must be done at the airport. Have your travel documents and bag tag receipt ready, give correct contact details and a description of the bag, and add your full route.
• PIR number: you get a Property Irregularity Report (PIR) with a reference number, for example OSLDY12345. Keep it safe. You use it to track the bag online.
• Who searches: for the first five days the representatives at the airport run the search. After five days Norwegian's baggage department takes over.
• Damaged bag: show the damage to a representative on arrival and get a damage report (PIR) at the airport. If you found the damage after leaving the airport, you can file a damage report in MyBag within four days of the travel date. After four days, contact Norwegian or the airport to get a report made within 7 days of receiving the bag.

Norwegian says that if you don't report damage before leaving the airport, the bag counts as received in good condition. You then have to show that the damage happened while the airline was responsible for the bag. That matches the Montreal Convention (article 31(1)): without a report, the burden is on you. Photos from the baggage hall help.

Your deadlines

Day the flight landed Day you got the bag back (leave empty if it's still missing)

Counted from the dates you enter. Claim as early as you can.

• Delayed bag: a separate claim within 21 days of getting the bag back.
• Damaged bag: a separate written claim on Norwegian's website within 7 days of getting the bag (Montreal Convention, article 31).
• Lost bag: if Norwegian hasn't found the bag after 21 days, you can claim for a lost bag (article 17(3)).
• Charter: if you flew a Norwegian charter, the claim goes through its charter page, Manage your booking.
• Court: 2 years from the day the flight arrived (article 35). A claim to Norwegian or a complaint to a board does not stop this clock.

Send a separate claim, even if you have a PIR

Norwegian asks for a separate claim on its website for both delayed and damaged bags. It has refused claims where the passenger had only reported the bag in its baggage system.

Sweden's complaint board ARN disagreed with one such refusal. A passenger had reported a damaged suitcase in Norwegian's system but not sent a separate claim within 7 days. ARN found the first report met the Montreal Convention's notice rule and recommended that Norwegian pay 2,499 kr. Norwegian had not paid (Råd & Rön, February 2026). The EU Court of Justice has also accepted a complaint recorded in the airline's own system (C-258/16 Finnair, 2018).

You avoid the argument by sending the separate claim on time. Do it even if you have the PIR number.

How to claim from Norwegian

1. Go to Norwegian's help and contact page and pick the form for delayed or damaged baggage.
2. Give your booking reference and the PIR reference.
3. Delayed bag: list what you bought and attach the original receipts. Norwegian asks for the original receipts and the PIR to back up the costs.
4. Damaged bag: attach photos of the damage, the brand and name of the bag, its age, the purchase price and the receipt.
5. Track the claim on Norwegian's status page for existing claims, and keep a dated copy.

What Norwegian pays, and where to push back

• Delayed bag: Norwegian says you can ask for a refund of toiletries or other necessary items, and the rental of important equipment, within reason.
• Return trip: Norwegian assumes you have what you need when the bag is late on the way home, and usually does not pay for purchases then. The European Consumer Centre in Finland also says compensation is rarely justified on a return trip. Claim only real costs you can explain.
• Damaged bag: Norwegian says it is not liable for normal wear, and that minor scratches, marks and other minimal damage can happen in transport. A broken wheel, a torn handle or a cracked shell is different. That is damage the airline is liable for, unless the fault was in the bag itself (article 17(2)). More in damaged suitcase.
• Damaged contents: Norwegian tells you to contact your travel insurer if the contents are damaged but the bag itself is not. But the treaty also covers the contents of a checked bag, within the same 7 days. You can claim from both, but you can't be paid twice.
• Lost bag: the value of the bag and its contents, item by item, with a cut for age. There is no fixed legal rate.

All of this falls under one limit: about €1,836 per passenger (article 22(2), 1,519 SDR). It is a maximum, not a sum you get automatically. A daily amount an airline offers is its own policy, not the legal limit.

Travel insurance

Norwegian itself says it can pay to check your travel insurance first. Many policies pay a fixed sum when the bag is late on the outbound trip. You can claim from both Norwegian and your insurer, but you can't be paid twice for the same cost.

If Norwegian says no

• Norway: Transportklagenemnda, free. File as soon as Norwegian has said no, and at the latest one year after your written claim to the airline (transportklagenemndforskriften § 5-2). It decided 180 baggage cases in 2025, up from 29 in 2021. Airlines refused to follow 36 baggage decisions in 2025, some of them over the 7-day deadline for damaged bags.
• Sweden: ARN. The fee is 150 kr and isn't refunded, but you can ask in your complaint that the airline pays it back. For travel disputes the claim must be at least 1,500 kr. File within a year of your claim to the airline.
• Denmark: Trafikstyrelsen does not handle bags. Nævnenes Hus takes cases only against companies registered in Denmark. Otherwise, Forbruger Europa.
• Finland: the European Consumer Centre first, then the consumer disputes board (KRIL). A baggage claim on its own must be in Finnish or Swedish.
• United Kingdom: AviationADR or CEDR, depending on the airline's scheme, after a final answer or 8 weeks. Free.
• Elsewhere in the EU: the European Consumer Centre in your country helps for free.

Court is the last step, within 2 years of the day the flight arrived. See the Nordic complaint boards for how each Nordic body works.

Did Norwegian also refuse compensation for a late or cancelled flight? That is a different claim. See Norwegian refused compensation. The general rules for any airline are in delayed or lost baggage.

FAQ

I forgot to report it at the airport. What now?

Report it as fast as you can. For a damaged bag you can use MyBag within four days of the travel date, or otherwise contact Norwegian or the airport within 7 days. Send a separate written claim with photos within 7 days of getting the bag.

I flew with one of Norwegian's partners. Who do I claim from?

If the bag was delayed or damaged on a flight a partner operated, Norwegian points you to its partner page. On one booking you can still claim from the first airline, the last one, or the one whose flight it happened on (article 36(3)).

Can I claim for the time I lost?

In principle, yes. Non-material harm counts within the same limit (C-63/09 Walz). But boards rarely pay much for it. Your receipts are what counts.