Why Damage Claims Get Denied, and What Gets One Paid

A television arrives with a cracked screen. You paid for coverage, you file the claim, and weeks later it comes back denied. The reason on the letter is almost never the driver who dropped it. It is the packing.

The standard your box is measured against

Anything shipped with UPS, FedEx, DHL or the US Postal Service has to survive a three-foot drop without breaking. That is not a suggestion about handling. It is the line a claim gets judged against later, when the box is already open in a warehouse and nobody is there to explain how carefully you taped the seams. The box has to speak for you.

A screen in a single wall of cardboard does not meet it, no matter how much bubble wrap went in with it.

What meeting the standard looks like

For artwork, glass, mirrors and anything that will not survive a single wall of cardboard, we build a double box. An inner box goes around the item, a second box goes around that, and cushioning fills the space between the two. Nothing rests against the panel itself.

That is the packing standard carriers expect when a damage claim is filed, and it is the same method whether the thing inside is a framed print or a 65-inch screen.

The rule most people meet too late

Coverage costs $4 for every $100 of declared value, and we insure items up to $7,500.

One condition, and it is the part worth reading twice. If you want the item insured, we have to pack it. We photograph every stage of the packing as we go, and if a claim comes back later, those photos are the proof that the item was packed to the carrier's standard. Without them a claim gets denied. The reason given is almost always the packing.

If you would rather pack it yourself

You can, and you can insure it through an outside service using the tracking number, which is a normal way to do it if you have packed a screen before and know what the carrier will ask for when something goes wrong. What we will not do is insure an item we did not pack, because we would lose that claim and so would you.

When we do the packing we follow the carrier's rules, which means the packing is our responsibility if you ever file.

What we do not do

We do not build wooden crates. If your item is large enough to need a crate or a pallet, ask and we will point you to someone who does that work.

What to bring

Bring the item itself if you can carry it. Measuring beats describing. If you cannot get it here, bring the length, width and height, plus roughly what it weighs.

There is no separate labor line on your receipt. The work is built into the cost of the materials, we look at what you brought, and you hear the number before we start.

Walk in Monday through Friday from 9 to 6, or Saturday from 9 to 1. Allied Express, 1420 W Airline Hwy, LaPlace. Call 985.651.9322 if you would rather ask first.