How to File an Insurance Claim with USPS, UPS, and FedEx

By Baillee Perkins
May 13, 2022
Learn how to file various types of claims with ShippingEasy!

You’re drinking your morning coffee when you receive an email from a customer. You shipped this order a while back, but it seems your customer never received their package. You take another sip of coffee and realize this has never happened before, and you aren’t sure about the next steps you need to take to file a claim for your customer. Fortunately, you’re able to go to ShippingEasy’s website where you find this blog outlining UPS claims, how to file a claim with USPS, and other information on the next steps for lost/damaged packages awaits you. 

Key Points: 

  • Guaranteed service refunds can be initiated for carrier services with guaranteed delivery windows. 
  • USPS, UPS, and FedEx claims are all filed with carriers directly while claims for the UPS account included with ShippingEasy are filed through our team. 
  • Shipsurance and adding declared value can be added to eligible shipments through your ShippingEasy account for an additional fee. 

Table of Contents:

  1. What are guaranteed services?
  2. How do I submit a guaranteed service refund?
  3. How do I file an insurance claim with USPS?
  4. How do I file an insurance claim with UPS?
  5. How do I file an insurance claim with FedEx?
  6. How does ShippingEasy help me with lost and/or damaged packages?
  7. Tips to prevent potential package loss and damages

What are guaranteed services? 

Okay, we’re about to let you in on a really exciting shipping benefit. Ready? Welcome to the world of guaranteed services! Guaranteed services are exact delivery times given by carriers like USPS, UPS, and FedEx for certain services. This means your package should be delivered within a specific time frame instead of an estimated delivery window. How cool is that? Every service doesn’t come with a guaranteed delivery time, so we’ve listed the guaranteed services for USPS, UPS, and FedEx below! 

  • USPS Guaranteed Services 
    • Priority Mail Express 
  • UPS Guaranteed Services
    • UPS Next Day Air® Early
    • UPS Next Day Air®
    • UPS Next Day Air Saver®
    • UPS Worldwide Express NA1®
    • UPS Worldwide Express Plus®
    • UPS Worldwide Express®
    • UPS Worldwide Express Saver®
    • UPS Worldwide Saver®
    • UPS Worldwide Express Freight® Midday
    • UPS Worldwide Express Freight®
  • FedEx Guaranteed Services 
    • FedEx First Overnight®
    • FedEx Priority Overnight®
    • FedEx Standard Overnight®
    • FedEx First Overnight Extra Hours*
    • FedEx Priority Overnight Extra Hours*
    • FedEx Standard Overnight Extra Hours*
    • FedEx International First®
    • FedEx International Priority®
    • FedEx International Priority® Express
    • FedEx International Priority® Freight

How do I submit a guaranteed service refund?

The submission process for your potential refund all depends on which carrier you used. For USPS Priority Mail Express guaranteed service refunds, you’ll need to: 

  1. Create or login to a USPS account 
  2. Fill out all of the information required from USPS 
  3. Confirm your claim is being made within 30 days of purchasing the label for domestic shipments and 60 days for international shipments 
  4. File your claim 

If USPS doesn’t offer a full refund, you can submit your claim to ShippingEasy with all of the information from your USPS claim, including the amount of the refund USPS covered, to see if you’re eligible for us to cover the remaining shipping cost. All you’ll need to do after receiving your refund from USPS is to fill out one of our claim forms

For UPS guaranteed service refund requests for shipments sent through the UPS account included with your ShippingEasy account, all claims have to be submitted within 15 days of your package being delivered, and you’ll submit your claim through our claim form. Once we have your form, a member of our wonderful support team will reach out to you with the next steps. Finally, for UPS and FedEx guaranteed service refund requests for shipments sent through your personal accounts, you’ll have to reach out to the carriers directly.

Need some help breaking down more shipping terms? Check out our Small Business Shipping Terms blog!

How do I file an insurance claim with USPS?

After you’ve refilled your morning coffee, you’re ready to start filing your insurance claim. If your package was shipped with USPS, read on! If your package was shipped with a different carrier, you can hop down to either UPS or FedEx below. 

To file your claim with USPS, you’ll first need: 

  • The tracking number for your package 
  • The PDF of your shipments label – You can find this by going to your Shipment History > Finding your shipment > Actions > Reprint > Label (with the paper icon) 
  • Proof of purchase from your Stamps.com account. Not sure how where to find this info? We’ve got you.
    • Log into your Stamps account at www.stamps.com/login. (You can find your login information on your One Balance and Carriers page)
      • Go to History > Search Print History:
        STAMPS_history_search_printhistory.png
      • Enter your package’s tracking number in the search bar on the upper left to pull up your label details or use the filter feature to find your label:
        STAMPS_search_tracking_number.PNG
      • Click on the label to expand the details page to the right of the page. Click the three dots in the upper right of the details and select Print Receipt.
        STAMPS_highlighted_label_print.png

Once you have all of this information, check to see if your claim falls within these designated timeframes: 

Domestic Services 

  • Insured Mail (includes Priority Mail) – 15 to 60 days
  • Priority Mail Express – 7 to 60 days
  • APO/FPO/DPO Priority Mail Express – 21 to 180 days
  • APO/FPO/DPO Insured – 45 days to 1 year

  International Services 

  • Priority Mail Express International – 3 to 90 days
  • Priority Mail Express International with Guarantee – 3 to 30 days
  • Priority Mail International – 7 days to 6 months
  • Registered Mail Service – 7 days to 6 months

After you have all of your info printed, and check your claim is within the timeframes above, you’re all set to file your domestic or international insurance claim with USPS online or in person. If you purchased additional insurance through ShippingEasy with Shipsurance, you’ll need to file a separate claim with Shipsurance after filing one with USPS. 

Note: Don’t throw out your damaged package until your claim is approved because USPS might ask for more photos or information, and your claim will be denied if you trash it! 

For more information on international shipping, check out our USPS International Shipping Options blog!

How do I file an insurance claim with UPS?

If your package was shipped with UPS, read on! If your package was shipped with a different carrier, you can hop back up to USPS or FedEx below.  

If you brought an existing UPS account to ShippingEasy, insurance claims for packages sent through your personal UPS will have to be filed with UPS directly

If you opened a UPS account on ShippingEasy through One Balance, claims for shipments are submitted through our team. The easiest way to give the guidelines and restrictions for the latter type of claim is through this checklist: 

  • UPS must receive notice of claims within sixty days after delivery of the package or, in case of failure to make delivery, within sixty days after the date of scheduled delivery.
  • Partially-completed filled claims forms can’t be processed. If there is an issue with your submitted claims form, you’ll get an email from our team
  • Claims can take up to three weeks to be processed
  • If your claim is denied, you can appeal it by submitting a new claim with new or updated information.

How do I file an insurance claim with FedEx?

If your package was shipped with FedEx, read on! If your package was shipped with a different carrier, you can hop back up to USPS or UPS One Balance and UPS.  

Like UPS, FedEx claims will also be filed with FedEx directly. However, FedEx doesn’t offer insurance in the same way as the other carriers. FedEx uses declared value, which is the largest amount they’ll cover for any damages or package loss. FedEx shipments have a default of $100 of coverage, and additional declared value can be purchased in ShippingEasy for a fee. We’ll talk more about Shipsurance in our next section, but extra insurance can be purchased for these shipments through ShippingEasy as well. 

Learn more about shipping insurance with Shipping Insurance – How to Avoid the Scary Side of Shipping!

How does ShippingEasy help me with lost and/or damaged packages?

You’ve learned how to file both a guaranteed service and an insurance claim, but what steps can you take to protect your shipments in advance? ShippingEasy helps our users by partnering with Shipsurance, a third-party shipment insurance company, and providing users with an option to additional declared value to UPS and FedEx shipments. Shipsurance and declared value can both be purchased for eligible shipments for an extra charge, and this charge will depend on the amount of additional insurance or declared value needed. 

For more information on declared value and Shipsurance, check out our How to Ship Jewelry blog!

Tips to prevent potential package loss and damages

  • Be extremely communicative with your customers about when their package will arrive. 
  • Wrap all breakables carefully to avoid any items shifting and breaking in transit. 
  • Write all addresses as clearly as possible to avoid any confusion during delivery. 
  • Purchase insurance/additional insurance for valuable USPS shipments as well as additional declared value for UPS and FedEx shipments when needed. 
  • Check the tracking for higher-value packages when possible to confirm things are running smoothly. 

Conclusion

You’ve been able to gather all of the information needed for filing the claim for your customer’s missing and/or damaged package by the time you’ve finished your breakfast. You’ve emailed your customer back to apologize for the delay and let them know you’ll be shipping out another package today. You confirm their address and get their package sent out later that day. They receive this package with no issues, and now, you know where to turn if you or your customers have any damaged or lost packages in the future.

Looking for other great content? Check out our other blogs!

File a USPS Insurance Claim – How To 

File a UPS One Balance Insurance Claim – How To 

USPS International Shipping Options 

USPS login page

What is Estimated Delivery Date?

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Baillee Perkins

Baillee Perkins is a writer of shipping by day and pop culture by night, so her Google search history is an actual nightmare.

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