SPRINGETTSBURY TOWNSHIP, Pa. – The holiday shopping and shipping season is fast approaching.
If you plan to send packages to loved ones, you may also consider buying insurance for those packages.
But if you’re shipping through the U.S. Postal Service, that insurance may not cover everything you think it does.
“In April, I sent a birthday package to my son-in-law, who currently lives in South Korea,” said Donna Sauer of York County.
But by the end of May, Sauer’s Priority Mail package of collectible coins still hadn’t arrived.
Fortunately, she had purchased shipping insurance and thought she was covered.
“I filed a claim and it was denied,” she said.
Sauer said the claim was denied because of a questionable receipt from the seller, so she got a new receipt and resubmitted the claim.
“They then approved the claim and sent me a cheque for $39.46 out of a total of $147.26,” she said.
Upset that she had not received a full refund, Sauer did some digging and learned a lesson about buying shipping insurance through the USPS.
“If you send Priority Mail flat-rate express, you will not get a full refund at all. You have to send it by registered mail,” she said.
Sauer received an official response from the post office telling her that the compensation was limited because the package had not been sent by registered mail.
“My concern then was that in 10 years of sending parcels, not one employee ever said, ‘Do you understand how this works when you buy the insurance?
In a statement, the Postal Service said: “Because the customer’s contents were negotiable items, the Postal Service could only provide the maximum compensation of $15 and a refund of postage. We apologise for not explaining the full range of shipping options to the customer”.
In this case, the items sent were collectible coins. Their value could mean a lot to you and nothing to someone else. So the value is negotiable.
Claims for non-negotiable items would be covered for their full value, according to the USPS.
The best advice is to ask what the insurance covers before you buy it.
