Our £200 pushchair broke on a Ryanair flight but I can’t claim because it’s ‘not the right shape’: CRANE ON BUSINESS

Recently I went on holiday to Malaga with my family, with Ryanair. On the way back my child’s Joie pushchair broke down, sometime between the time I checked him in at Malaga airport and the time I picked him up again in Leeds Bradford.

I couldn’t find any Ryanair staff at the airport, so I spoke to someone from Swissport, the airline’s baggage handling company.

I filled out a form and was told it would be sent to Ryanair, I asked if I needed to do anything else but was told I didn’t.

But when I got home I looked online for Ryanair’s damaged baggage claims and saw that I needed a reference number, but I hadn’t been given one.

I went back to the airport to check with Ryanair staff and was told that all I needed was a photo of the handwritten form as proof that I had handed it in. I took one when I filled it in so I thought it was sorted.

A week later I still hadn’t heard anything so I contacted Ryanair online. I was asked for the reference number and I replied that I didn’t have one but I did provide the photo of the form I had filled out at the airport.

I was then told that I had to file the claim online, but that the deadline for this had passed as the flight was more than seven days ago.

The pram was not even six months old and cost £200. JH, Leeds

Helen Crane of This is Money responds: Travelling abroad with young children is not for the faint of heart, especially because of the many essential items they need to carry.

Once you’ve packed all the diapers, bibs, bottles or cups, sunscreen, and household items, it can feel like you’re going away for a month instead of a week.

Anyway, you had a great family vacation with your toddler and came back safe and sound. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for your stroller.

When you saw it at the baggage carousel, it was in a terrible state. The bracket, which also serves as a carrying handle for the stroller, was broken in half.

Also, parts of the fold-out stroller were bent, meaning it no longer clicked into place.

In short, the aircraft was completely unsafe and unusable, so you should have been able to claim money from the airline for a new aircraft.

This is a consumer right under the Montreal Convention. It applies regardless of which airline you fly with, and whether you travel in first class or with a budget airline such as Ryanair.

But filling out the paperwork can be easier said than done, especially if you arrive home to a sparsely populated arrivals hall with no airline staff in sight.

You’ve managed to corner an employee of Swissport, the company Ryanair hires to transport passengers’ checked baggage to their destination and back.

You filled out a form and made sure to double-check that you had done everything necessary before leaving the airport.

In the air: JH filled out a claim form at the airport, but couldn’t figure out if she also needed to file a claim online – and was then told she’d missed the deadline

But later you discovered that you were missing an important piece of the puzzle: a reference number for your damaged item. By the time you had sorted that out, Ryanair told you it was too late to make a claim.

It turns out that you were given the wrong information, both on arrival at the airport and on your return visit. Ryanair policy is that anyone with lost or damaged luggage must speak to someone at the airport on arrival and complete a claim form online.

If baggage is damaged, you must report it at your arrival airport and submit an online claim to Ryanair within seven days of the date of the damage. If baggage is delayed, you have 21 days from the day you get it back.

You felt you had taken the issue to the extreme with Ryanair, so you contacted me for assistance.

I have contacted the airline and they are now processing a compensation payment of £150 for the damaged pushchair.

This is less than the £200 you paid for it in March due to wear and tear. It is common for the airline to offer a settlement based on the current value of the item, rather than the new price.

It is important that you have proof of purchase for the stroller. This is often important when filing a claim for lost or damaged luggage.

A Ryanair spokesperson said: ‘This passenger travelled from Malaga to Leeds Bradford (…) where her pushchair was damaged on the return flight, but the third party handling agent wrongly failed to provide her with a PIR (Property Irregularity Report), which is required to submit a baggage claim form online.

‘A member of our customer service team has reached out to (the customer) directly to provide assistance.’

Obviously you filled out a form at the airport. It seems you were not given the correct form as it did not have the important reference number you need to make a claim online.

I’m glad you were able to find the money to replace the broken stroller and I hope your next family outing will be less bumpy.