We all buy goods online nowadays, and for the most part during the checkout there is an ‘insured’ option, but do you really need it, and is it fair to even ask you for it?
I bumped into a friend recently who told me of his woes with a UK courier company called Yodel.
He sold a kite surfing set on ebay and shipped it with Yodel, he did not take out insurance and the value of the kit was around £145.
Yodel managed to lose it despite it being quite a large parcel, when it was obvious it wasn’t going to turn up around a week later he called Yodel who basically told him it has ‘disappeared’ from their system and they would not pay out as it was his fault for not taking out insurance.
Well, my friend didn’t accept their answer, rightly stating he paid them to deliver it, not to lose it. He argued they offered a delivery service, and if they lost it, then they should pay for it.
He took them to the small claims court and won, Yodel didn’t even defend themselves. His solicitor says it is a landmark case, I don’t know about that - but good on him I thought for getting one over on them, perhaps the UK’s worst delivery company.
First of all, yodel is not comparable to any business out there. They are the most chaotic, unfriendly group of logistics people I have ever seen. they have managed to displace more packages than anybody could imagine.
and to your other question: some/most tracked packages are already insured, but not necessarily to a high/right amount. It is up to the sender to verify this. The T&Cs will give detail with each shipping company and country.
If the included insurance is not high enough they typically give you an option to increase insurance coverage for a fee. This should be done if the item is valuable enough.
Hiring a lawyer is almost always not worth it unless you have legal insurance and they cover initial legal support or the item is very expensive. Who would pay a lawyer for hundreds if the item sent is only worth 50-100? There is the chance you could win but I think it is better to never use unreliable companies and always pay the insurance if the item is valuable. If the item is very valuable you should hire a courier service instead of a postal service.
To be clear - he took them to court (small claims he did himself) , not the solicitor, he asked the solicitor for some advice, then told them the result - which was when he said about it being landmark.
Insurance is a win-win for carriers, so they offer it. Either you pay too much for a successful delivery, or if it’s lost and you didn’t buy, you feel like it’s your fault and don’t make demands for payment.
You are right, it’s very unfair they offer it. It’s a double scam. Once they take possession of something, they are responsible. Weather you overpaid or not.
I know if you ship UPS , they provide insurance up to a certain amount. I am not sure, I think $100 . They ask if you want to purchase extra insurance. I always do to be sure. It doesn’t seem right though.
I think insurance is needed for accident or unexpected incidence with police case lodged.
Without buying insurance, If the logistic company lost the package not knowing what has happened, I think they have to refund the full amount of shipping cost plus value of item declared by original sender. But if logistic company can prove that something happened for example someone break in their lorry or warehouse, and they lodged a police report declaring what parcels are stolen, I would think sender will be at a loss. I don’t think the OP’s friend case should be landmark at all. Logistic companies can’t just say parcel is lost and it is not their faults. They have to prove that it is not their fault. International shipping will be more complicated since it might involve more than one logistic company, and parcel can be lost in other country.
With insurance, If the logistic company lost the package not knowing what has happened and they didn’t lodge police report, I am not too sure they can actually make a claim to insurance company. And in that case, I am not sure can they refund original sender if they can’t make a claim successfully from insurance company. So I am guessing most of the time insurance is actually extra fee logistic company accumulated from all senders as a fund for unexpected incidence unless the value of the item is very very expensive that it must be insured properly for accident case or theft case that they will lodge police report.
For online store that give option to buyer to buy insurance, I doubt that is real insurance but just extra fee charged by the store for unexpected case unless the item is very expensive that it has to be properly insured. If your country post service is good, you should not need to buy that option. But if your country post service is bad with a lot of theft or accidents, I think you better tick that option. I think that if seller manage to prove that accidents or theft happened, and buyer didn’t buy insurance, Paypal might not side with buyer for the case.
The price of the bulk of the items sold and shipped in THIS Forum.
Shipping Ins would be an unnecessary item in most cases.
Unless you want a specific. More than budget item, Guaranteed delivery.
I have paid it on a few “Specific” items. but at the usual prices I just take pot luck.
YOU win Most. You lose some. (shrug)
There must be millions of little packets coming through China Post alone.
EBAY and PAYPAL. deliver a fairly reliable replace\refund service.
I do ALL (Even fishing, Electronics and furniture deals) on Net Up to, and over a coupla grand.through Paypal.