I just took a rod to the post office. I requested insurance in the ammount of 350 dollars. The postal worker than told me, that if I needed to file a claim that I would have to prove the value of the rod. As we all know, the value of a custom built rod is so much more than the sum of its parts. The rod is a gift to an old friend. What should I do if I have to file a claim. I know some of you guys ship rods all the time, so I thought I would bring this question to the forum. I thank you in advance for your input and suggestions.
Barry

Show them the receipt. I make a receipt on my letter head for all of my customers and keep a copy on my computer so all I have to do is print it out.

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Super Tight Lines......Don

Make yourself out a receipt for $350 with the shipping and handling charges added. Keep it on file until delivery. Send a copy to your friend so he will have it for his insurance co.

I don't understand why the Post Office or any other shipper that offers insurance would require proof of value or even need/want to know the contents of the parcel (other than the usual hazardous stuff) when the shipper pays in proportion to the declared value of the content and should be reimbursed accordingly. If I pay the appropriate fee to cover the shippers risk it shouldn't matter if the box contains diamonds or is empty. If it is lost or the contents are damaged I should be compensated for the value that I insured it for.

Don

It doesn't work that way. No shipper pays just because you bought a certain amount of insurance. The claim is always dependent upon proof of value and will be paid only up to the amount you purchased. Doing it any other way opens them up to the worst sorts of scams and fraud.

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Don, it doesnt' make any sense, they should ask for the proof up front...but you post office workers make everything difficult, lol

You can't put a $10 item in a box and then insure it for $500 and then expect to recover $500 if that item is damaged or lost. Plenty of people have tried it. If you read the fine print on any shipping and insurance statement I've ever seen it will say that they will pay actual current value of the item up to the amount of insurance you bought but no more. You do not necessarily get the full amount the parcel is insured for, just what it is actually worth. Heck, my vehicle and home insurance work the same way.

Their policies are in writing and it's your responsibility to know and understand them before shipping the item. If it were me I would make out an invoice for a fair market value and include it in an outside shipping invoice packet.

If I insure an empty box for $10,000 and tell them it's empty when I ship it they will gladly charge me as though it contained $10,000 worth of stuff. It doesn't matter what the value is what maters is how much insurance that you purchase. The pay out should be what I insure it for not their perceived value. The odds are in the range of (guessing here but the odds are astronomically high) 500,000 to 1 that they won't loose it so they pocket my insurance money 499,999 times and pay out 1 time. Insurance works like the casinos, they both set the odds so they can't loose or even break even. They're going to win and that means "you" have to loose.

I know how it works in real life, they'll do whatever they can to squeeze every last penny from the customer. If the shipper doesn't want to pay the any or all of the insured coverage it's quite simple "Don"t loose or damage the goods"

Don



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/11/2013 08:37PM by Don O'Neil.

Ken Finch Wrote:
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>
You can't put a $10 item in a box and then insure
> it for $500 and then expect to recover $500 if
> that item is damaged or lost.



Ken, I know that I can't .....BUT, I should because I paid for insurance coverage of $500.

Don

They don't offer such a policy, therefore you can't. What you think you "should" be able to do is tempered by the terms and policy that you're actually paying for and agreeing to.



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If you insure a $50,000 house for $200,000 and it burns down, how much do you think the insurance company will pay you?

I know what they will pay me, probably less than the $50,000 It's worth. But insuring a house isn't the same because after I insure the house it is still in my possession and I could burn it down. Therefore, an insurer will not insure a house or anything that remains in my control for more than it's worth. If I insure a parcel and give it to the shipper he is in total control and should protect the parcel from loss or damage. I cannot effect it's safety therefore I cannot scam him. He collects from me enough $ to protect his exposure (whatever I insure it for) thus making his risk minimal and the insurance sale profitable. He may loose my parcel but he successfully delivers thousands so in the whole scheme of things he wins on insurance sales.

If pay for $10 worth of insurance and the shipper looses the insured parcel he should pay me $10 no matter the value of the contents.

Don

When I ship items, I factor in insurance costs, charge the customer, and do not take the insurance with the carrier, I pocket that insurance $$$. If something happens to the package I eat the cost because I know I'm ahead on the insurance $$$ that I never took out, so I'm basically my own insurance company. It's worth it, and I do not have to deal with teh hassle of fighting with them to get my money, I just replace the goods to the customer and move on.

The shipper should pay you per the terms which you agreed to when you took out the insurance. And that's what they do.

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When you buy collision insurance for your car and file a claim you get book value for it in a loss. If you insure a custom car you buy a policy at a stated value and pay a premium for that value above and beyond the book value. The problem is, delivery carriers want it both ways, they will insure for a stated value and charge you for it but then only pay out as if you bought a book value insurance.

This isn't really a problem though. We are the manufacturers. We set the price or value of our merchandise, not the delivery company. What is important to remember is that documentation should exist created and dated prior to the claim, not after the claim.

Shippers do not insure for a stated value or insurance amount. They insure for the actual value of the item being shipped, up to the amount of insurance purchased.

If you contract for $500 worth of shipping insurance. The seller (shipper) is not agreeing to pay you $500 if the item is lost or damaged. The seller is only agreeing to pay you for the actual value of the item up to a possible amount of $500.

Getting back to what Barry has asked, he needs to have some sort of verification of what the rod would normally sell for. This might be an invoice of his own making, or price quotes on similar rods from other makers. The best course is to be prepared beforehand with some sort of proof of value and insure for an amount greater than that.

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