subject: Shipping Freight? Be Sure To Declare What It's Worth To You [print this page] When you ship a valuable antique, a rare family memento or perhaps even your most precious possessions for arrival at a distant place, you want to be sure they arrive safely. So do your experts in distribution logistics, those helpful people who make sure deliveries always get there on time and arrive in tiptop condition. They will always do their level best to get a shipment anywhere safe, but accidents can and do happen.
That's why we urge anyone who is shipping with a transportation service to fill out the shipping form completely, including the declared value of an item. Put simply, the classification of a declared value is whatever it would take you monetarily to replace this item. If it's a legal document, no harm is done, since ecopies and copies of copies are plentiful now. If it's a rare gem, family photo or new prototype, there is considerably more value and risk involved.
Declared value ensures that you will receive whatever value you declared for the item that may have been lost or stolen, while in the possession of your delivery company. The insurance shifts the responsibility onto them to keep it safe, and gives you the relaxed feeling that no matter what, everything will go well.
Most declared values for small items range around $100; that is the smallest amount available on the insurance (costing only pennies added to the delivery charges), and is automatically the amount you are insured for if you declare a need for insuring the packages, but declare no value on it. In other words, if you do not declare value but you do declare for insurance, you'll be repaid the minimum amount to replace the item in question.
There is a waiting period in replacement also. An investigation is usually held to try and recover your missing package, and only after all other avenues have been exhausted can you file for a claim. And wait some more.
So you can easily see that declared value set on a package is a true value for you. When you declare a value for an item that you turn over to your delivery company's distribution logistics wizards, you're saying that you place faith in the company to get the package there, on time and intact, and you equally trust them to make good in the event of a loss.
by: Chris Ellis
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