Wizz Air baggage claim: the PIR and 7 and 21 day deadlines

Baggage is a separate legal system

When a Wizz Air flight is delayed or cancelled, you may be owed a fixed compensation sum under EU261 or UK261. Baggage does not work that way. Lost, delayed or damaged hold luggage is governed by an international treaty — the Montreal Convention 1999 — which most European countries and the EU itself have signed. It gives you the right to be reimbursed for proven loss, up to a cap, rather than a flat automatic amount.

That distinction matters. Under EU261 you can be owed EUR 400 for a three-hour arrival delay whether or not you spent a penny. Under Montreal you are compensated for what you actually lost — replacement clothing, a damaged case, essentials while your bag was missing — and you have to show it. Keep this in mind before you send anything: the two claims are independent, and a disrupted flight can trigger both at once (for example, a cancelled Luton–Bucharest service that also loses your suitcase).

Step one: file a PIR at the airport

The single most important thing you can do is report the problem before you leave the baggage hall. Go to the Wizz Air or ground-handling baggage desk in the arrivals area and ask for a Property Irregularity Report (PIR). You will be given a reference number. This is the contemporaneous evidence that something went wrong on that flight, on that date, with your bag.

• Delayed or missing bag: report it at the desk before leaving the airport. If the desk is closed, use the airline's online missing-bag form the same day and keep the confirmation.
• Damaged bag: show the damage at the desk before you leave. Photograph the case, the tag and the baggage belt area.
• Keep your boarding pass and the baggage tag receipt (the sticker stub from check-in). Without the tag number, matching your bag to the flight is much harder.

A PIR is not the claim itself — it is the trigger. If you walk out of the terminal without one, you have not lost every right, but you have made the claim far harder to prove, and Wizz Air can reasonably argue the damage happened after you took the bag.

Step two: write to Wizz Air before the deadline

Filing the PIR starts the clock. You must then put a written claim to the airline within strict Montreal Convention windows, measured from when you received the bag:

• Damage: write within 7 days of receiving the bag.
• Delay: write within 21 days from the date the bag was placed at your disposal (returned to you).
• Lost: there is no separate "lost" deadline. A bag that is still missing after about 21 days is generally treated as lost, and you then claim as for loss. Send your written claim promptly rather than waiting.

Miss the 7- or 21-day written-notice deadline and the airline can refuse the claim outright, even if everything else is in order. Send your claim through Wizz Air's baggage claim channel, attach the PIR reference, and keep proof of the date you sent it.

What you can claim, and the cap

Montreal liability is capped at roughly 1,519 SDR per passenger. SDR (Special Drawing Rights) is an IMF currency unit, so the pound and euro equivalent moves with exchange rates — think of it as around EUR 1,850 / GBP 1,600 as a rule of thumb, not a fixed figure. This cap has been in force since 28 December 2024; older articles quoting 1,131 or 1,288 SDR are out of date.

Within that cap you can claim:

• Delayed bag: reasonable essentials while you were without it — basic clothing, toiletries, a phone charger. Keep every receipt. "Reasonable" is judged against your circumstances; a business traveller with nothing for four days can justify more than someone home the next morning.
• Damaged bag: repair cost, or the depreciated replacement value if it cannot be repaired.
• Lost bag: the value of the contents, which you should itemise and, where possible, evidence.

You do not get the cap automatically — you get your proven loss up to the cap. Vague claims for a round number rarely succeed. Note also that Wizz Air's own add-ons, such as WIZZ Priority or a paid large cabin bag, are commercial products; their refundability follows Wizz Air's terms and has nothing to do with your Montreal baggage rights.

Who you claim against

The operating carrier is liable. Wizz Air flies through separate airlines — Wizz Air Hungary, Wizz Air Malta, Wizz Air UK and Wizz Air Abu Dhabi — and your claim goes to whichever entity operated your flight, named on your booking. If Wizz Air rejects a well-evidenced claim, you can escalate to a court within the two-year limit, or use the alternative dispute resolution route Wizz Air points to. For the flight-disruption side of a claim (delay or cancellation), the enforcement body differs by departure airport — the UK Civil Aviation Authority for UK departures, the relevant national body for EU/EEA departures — but for pure baggage disputes your route is the airline and then the courts.

The two-year long-stop

Separate from the 7- and 21-day notice deadlines, Montreal sets a two-year limit to bring court action, running from the date the aircraft arrived (or should have arrived). This is a hard long-stop: once it passes, the claim is gone. The early written notice keeps the claim alive; the two-year window is your outer limit to litigate if the airline will not settle.

FAQ

Is a Wizz Air baggage payout the same as EU261 compensation?

No. EU261/UK261 pays a fixed sum for a qualifying delayed or cancelled flight (EUR 250/400/600 or GBP 220/350/520). Baggage is compensated under the Montreal Convention for proven loss up to about 1,519 SDR. You can claim both from the same disrupted flight, separately.

I got home before I noticed the damage — is it too late?

The 7-day damage deadline runs from receipt of the bag, and inspecting a case at home is common. Photograph the damage, then write to Wizz Air within seven days of collecting it. Reporting damage at the airport desk first is stronger, so do that whenever you spot it there.

How long before a delayed bag counts as lost?

There is no fixed rule, but a bag still missing after around 21 days is generally treated as lost, and you then claim for its contents. Do not wait the full period to send written notice — submit your claim promptly.

Do I really need the PIR?

Practically, yes. The PIR is the airport-level proof that the problem existed on arrival. Without it, Wizz Air can argue the damage or loss happened after you left, and your claim becomes much weaker.

Does WIZZ Flex or Priority change my baggage rights?

No. Those are paid commercial add-ons governed by Wizz Air's own terms. Your statutory Montreal baggage rights are the same with or without them.

For related situations, see Wizz Air delayed or lost baggage, the main Wizz Air flight compensation guide, Wizz Air delayed flight compensation, refund versus WIZZ credit and UK261 vs EU261: which applies. To estimate a separate flight-disruption payout, use the flight compensation calculator.

Sources

• Montreal Convention 1999 (Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air): https://www.icao.int/secretariat/legal/pages/treatycollection.aspx
• EU implementation of the Montreal Convention (Regulation (EC) No 2027/97 as amended): https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:31997R2027
• IATA baggage information for passengers: https://www.iata.org/en/programs/passenger/baggage/
• UK Civil Aviation Authority — resolving travel problems: https://www.caa.co.uk/passengers/resolving-travel-problems/

This guide reflects the position in 2026 and is general information, not legal advice; SDR values move with exchange rates, and the 2026 EU261 reform is a proposal that is not yet in force.