p.1 #1 · Declared Value vs Insurance While Shipping
So today, a lady at Fedex schooled me on my long-held belief that "declaring a value = insurance".
She said "no, hon, that is not how it works. Fedex only insures things we pack ourselves. If you pack and drop boxes off with us, you can give us a declared value, which is our maximum liability in case your package is lost or damaged and you can prove it was caused due to our negligence".
Now, I was instantly in debate mode, but afterwards, I read about this on many sites and she was right about Declared value <> Insurance. Not sure about the part where Fedex insures if they pack, etc.
Is this common knowledge? Am I the last to find out?
And if so, what do we mean when we say "Shipped Insured within CONUS"?
p.1 #3 · Declared Value vs Insurance While Shipping
In the limited amount of shipping I have done, shipping charges and insurance charges are separate fees. When you ship an item, you can choose to insure the package or not. Most of my experience is with the USPS.
p.1 #4 · Declared Value vs Insurance While Shipping
saaketham wrote:
So today, a lady at Fedex schooled me on my long-held belief that "declaring a value = insurance". She said "no, hon, that is not how it works. Fedex only insures things we pack ourselves. If you pack and drop boxes off with us, you can give us a declared value, which is our maximum liability in case your package is lost or damaged and you can prove it was caused due to our our negligence". Now, I was instantly in debate mode, but afterwards, I read about this on many sites and she was right about Declared value <> Insurance. Not sure about the part where Fedex insures if they pack, etc.
Is this common knowledge? Am I the last to find out? And if so, what do we mean when we say "Shipped Insured within CONUS"?...Show more →
Well I too found this out many years ago when shipping a fragile telescope! The FedX guy opened my box and inspected it, re-taped it and then insured it for full value and explained the above R&R to me.
1st and last I heard of this until your post.
One always has to "read between the lines or the fine print"...I usually never do it!
Dan
p.1 #5 · Declared Value vs Insurance While Shipping
brad-man wrote:
In the limited amount of shipping I have done, shipping charges and insurance charges are separate fees. When you ship an item, you can choose to insure the package or not. Most of my experience is with the USPS.
USPS seems to be the only major carrier directly offering insurance. I don't know how to insure a shipment when using FedEx or UPS. There seem to be 3rd Party insurers for expensive shipments, but what about small time folk like us sending $1000s of electronics all over the place?
Danpbphoto wrote:
Well I too found this out many years ago when shipping a fragile telescope! The FedX guy opened my box and inspected it, re-taped it and then insured it for full value and explained the above R&R to me. 1st and last I heard of this until your post. One always has to "read between the lines or the fine print"...I usually never do it!
Again, was it actual insurance or was he confirming that your declared value is legit?
As in, if you declare a value, that now gets printed on the FedEx receipt, but that <> insurance
p.1 #6 · Declared Value vs Insurance While Shipping
When you put a declared value in the price of shipping goes up....that's why I always thought I was buying insurance. That's got to mean something...what am I paying them for?
p.1 #7 · Declared Value vs Insurance While Shipping
saaketham wrote:
USPS seems to be the only major carrier directly offering insurance. I don't know how to insure a shipment when using FedEx or UPS. There seem to be 3rd Party insurers for expensive shipments, but what about small time folk like us sending $1000s of electronics all over the place?
Again, was it actual insurance or was he confirming that your declared value is legit?
As in, if you declare a value, that now gets printed on the FedEx receipt, but that <> insurance
My understanding is that the package is insured (at declared value) against being lost or smashed bad enough to penetrate or crush the box more than an inch or so as long as the packaging doesn't fail.. It will not cover any damage to the contents from non-penetrating impact. My understanding may not be correct as the situation has never confronted me.
p.1 #8 · Declared Value vs Insurance While Shipping
I mostly use USPS. I tell them it is fragile, glass. They put additional stickers on it. Then I buy extra insurance for the value. A few times I have used UPS and it was the same.
p.1 #9 · Declared Value vs Insurance While Shipping
ab7638 wrote:
When you put a declared value in the price of shipping goes up....that's why I always thought I was buying insurance. That's got to mean something...what am I paying them for?
It is confusing .. but it is not insurance. Its the max amount the carrier will be liable for, if the shipment gets damaged and you can prove negligence on their part caused the damage.
p.1 #10 · Declared Value vs Insurance While Shipping
saaketham wrote:
So today, a lady at Fedex schooled me on my long-held belief that "declaring a value = insurance".
She said "no, hon, that is not how it works. Fedex only insures things we pack ourselves. If you pack and drop boxes off with us, you can give us a declared value, which is our maximum liability in case your package is lost or damaged and you can prove it was caused due to our negligence".
Now, I was instantly in debate mode, but afterwards, I read about this on many sites and she was right about Declared value <> Insurance. Not sure about the part where Fedex insures if they pack, etc.
Is this common knowledge? Am I the last to find out?
And if so, what do we mean when we say "Shipped Insured within CONUS"?...Show more →
That's weird. I pay extra for insurance, sometimes a lot extra, when I ship expensive items out of Canada by courier, in boxes packed by me. What am I paying for?
p.1 #11 · Declared Value vs Insurance While Shipping
Not sure about the rules of your specific courier. Some carriers offer separate insurance.
Even what USPS calls insurance .. I am not sure it is really insurance, but the same deal as FedEx and UPS Declared Value. It limits their liability to that amount if you can prove their negligence caused the loss or damage.
p.1 #13 · Declared Value vs Insurance While Shipping
jcolwell wrote:
That's weird. I pay extra for insurance, sometimes a lot extra, when I ship expensive items out of Canada by courier, in boxes packed by me. What am I paying for?
p.1 #15 · Declared Value vs Insurance While Shipping
So basically my understanding is that the declared value is probably only 100% good for a lost package, as it is really hard to prove the damage is due to their negligence, especially when they have the say about who is at fault.
This is exactly the reason why I alway pack my item very securely, and make sure it can survive even the most ridiculous abuse.
Photography items are much less prone to damage than others, such as pro audio gears. I used to trade a lot pro audio gears like preamps, compressors, etc. They are big, heavy and have a lot of sharp edges. When buying used, it is super important to make sure they have the original box and packaging materials. Without those, the possibility of shipping damage is very high. I once tried to buy a very heavy tube preamp, and receive two damaged copies in a row.
p.1 #16 · Declared Value vs Insurance While Shipping
Not really sure what the practical difference between declared value and insurance is but the last time I shipped something relatively expensive via Fedex, I gave them a declared value of $10,000 for a Hohner accordion and they charged me xxx per hundred dollars to insure said instrument. They called it insurance and in fact asked me how much I wanted to declare as the value for their insurance. The full sized accordion was packed in a gigantic Pelican case with the latches gaffered down so it'd have been difficult to really damage, but if they lost it or the plane went down we'd have been covered. The cost of insuring that 70 lb package was almost as much as the shipping and as I remember came to well over $500 one way from L.A. to Nashville. And that was second day which ended up being the least expensive way to send it. Hell, that Pelican case ran me about $400 itself. Makes a great picnic table as well.
p.1 #17 · Declared Value vs Insurance While Shipping
Some FedEx counter people call it insurance, I guess, out of ignorance?
This lady who told me this, was very emphatic and told me many people seem confused by this
and that declared value <> insurance. Declared value is the maximum amount that Fedex is liable for,
if the item is damaged/lost and you can prove it's due to their negligence.
Insurance would mean they would pay for any damage.
By default, all packages are assigned a $100 declared value, so if the item is lost/damaged, they will pay unto $100.
By declaring a higher value, you're increasing FedEx's liability in case your shipment gets lost/damaged
and you pursue it and prove that it was due to their negligence, and so they charge you more.
p.1 #18 · Declared Value vs Insurance While Shipping
If the FedEx truck or aircraft crashes and the package is unrecoverable, they will pay, but that is rare.
Damage has to be catastrophic (box totally mangled/punctured/cut in half/contaminated with toxic materials, etc.) and the customer is responsible to ensure the packaging is strong enough to prevent that under usual shipping conditions. Use at least a box within a box and 2" material between or (better) a hard case inside a box. There is a reason that companies like Lensrentals use Pelican-type cases for shipping.
p.1 #19 · Declared Value vs Insurance While Shipping
Can't use hard cases for selling items unless you selling superteles only. I like all others do use box in a box and pack it well (better than what Amazon, B&H do for even expensive stuff). But it is still up to the carrier folks how they treat it on the way. I have seen some horror stories but most stuff get delivered fine. I once had a lens lost by USPS but they were able to find it after 2 weeks.
p.1 #20 · Declared Value vs Insurance While Shipping
bobby350z wrote:
Can't use hard cases for selling items unless you selling superteles only. I like all others do use box in a box and pack it well (better than what Amazon, B&H do for even expensive stuff). But it is still up to the carrier folks how they treat it on the way. I have seen some horror stories but most stuff get delivered fine. I once had a lens lost by USPS but they were able to find it after 2 weeks.
You could have the empty container shipped back. I've done that when shipping to myself.
