Damaged laptops may be covered

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Business travelers who were forced to check in their laptops and other electronic devices while strict hand luggage rules were in place may be able to claim on their travel insurance for any damage caused.

Passengers were banned from taking any hand luggage -- except travel documents, baby food and some medication in clear plastic bags -- on flights for four days after Thursday's foiled terror plot in the UK.

A spokeswoman for The Association of British Insurers (ABI) told CNN Tuesday that in normal circumstances any valuables in a passenger's checked in luggage would not normally be covered by travel insurance companies.

However, she said insurance companies were taking the unusual circumstances of the past six days into consideration and were dealing with claims on a "case by case basis as sympathetically as possible."

If passengers were forced to check in valuables, it was important to ensure they had all proof of ownership when making claims, including warranties and receipts, she said.

Under the Montreal Convention, which outlines claims relating to the international carriage of passengers,baggage and cargo, airlines are liable for the first £780 ($1,471) caused to a passenger's luggage during transit, the ABI spokeswoman said.

A relaxation of the rules on hand luggage came into force on Monday at most UK airports, but were delayed until Tuesday at Heathrow and Gatwick.

The new guidelines allow one item of hand luggage the size of a laptop computer bag per passenger. (New baggage rules)

Australian businessman Owen Kelly told CNN that if the strict rules had stayed in place long-term they would have had far-reaching consequences for all air passengers.

Kelly lives in Sydney, Australia but his offices are based in Dubai. He is typically on the road for three weeks at a time, usually followed by a two-week stint at home.

The new rules still had implications for business travelers, he said.

"Most business travelers take as much hand luggage on board as possible to ensure a fast getaway at the arrival destination," Kelly said.

"These new rules will mean a much greater volume of baggage of all descriptions on already overcrowded baggage carousels at one's destination and long delays as ground staff try to cope. Baggage at London Heathrow is already a disaster -- long waits, premium baggage coming off last etc. is currently the norm."

He said if the airlines had not lifted restrictions on taking laptops on fights, it would have meant a huge loss in productivity.

"The implication for business travelers like myself is that working time in the air is now impossible -- no laptop, no papers, no working papers or briefs, so less productive time to prepare for the meetings at one's destination."

Passengers can now take one piece on hand luggage the size of a laptop on flights.

Like many viewers who have contacted CNN about the new rules, Kelly feared that laptops, mobile phones and PDAs would be damaged if they were forced to be checked in.

"The airlines are not going to employ extra baggage handlers to take up the extra load, so the result will be poorer handling. The liability and insurance implications are huge."

Malcolm Ginsberg, editor of Air & Business Travel News, writes in his editorial this week that the foiled terror plot should be viewed as not just a British problem.

He says that although London's Heathrow airport is hardest hit, the international knock-on effect will be huge. He describes it as a "global crisis."

Ginsberg predicts a boom for the executive jet market as business travelers became wary about taking commercial flights.

"Every traveler, except for the shortest of short haul, will now need to drop off his luggage and gain a receipt," Ginsberg says.

"More queues. We don't trust the airports' baggage facilities. We often need to make quick connections at the other end, or we require to be out of the airport as speedily as possible."

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