Does Insurance become a problem if an International Article goes missing?

I will preface this by saying that I do not think the buyer is scamming, and I do not think that changes to the defect system have any bearing on this transaction, although I am wanting to know how I will be affected by them.

 

It is about ten years since I have lodged international (or any) insurance claim with the Post Office. The last two were for items into Italy, that mysteriously turned up very quickly after the insurance claim was lodged (for me at least, Italy's postal system seems to have improved dramatically since then).

 

A month ago a Russian buyer (who appears to communicate well in English) on a low value parcel (large letter) wanted a price on tracking and/or insurance. I laid out the options available, and he went with the (cheaper) extra cost of insurance for the parcel. The total cost of the goods was about $30.00, so my interpretation is that he is not confident in his postal service, even though he is located in a major city centre. Two weeks ago he has asked for a tracking number - I have supplied him the insurance number and reminded him that by agreement this was a service that did not include tracking. Today he has advised that the items have not arrived. I have advised that I would lodge a claim today on the parcel with the Post Office and keep him informed as things progressed - today being about the first day that I could lodge the international postage claim with Australia Post (one calendar month). About the same time that I was lodging the insurance claim, the Russian buyer has lodged a "New Item Not Received Dispute".

 

I have replied in PayPal at this stage, giving dates and details of insurance, insurance number, claim number, and suggesting (possibly inappropriately) that claiming through PayPal is effectively claiming insurance twice on the one parcel.

 

One of the bothersome things on this size transaction, is that if it was not insured, on today's notification I would have suggested giving it one more week, and if it hadn't arrived, refunded myself. A surprising number of items arrive in that extra week window, and with about one item going missing every year or two, an occasional refund is much cheaper than registering and insuring lower value items. This one, though, being insured, I thought it was appropriate to go through the full process.

 

So, with an international postage insurance claim initiated (and I am still hoping that parcel will arrive) and a PayPal claim initiated at the same time, what are the appropriate actions for me to take now?


Less importantly, am I right to assume that whatever outcome comes from this, whether the parcel is delivered, or the buyer is paid out by the Post office or me, that I will now be rated a defective seller for not physically delivering the items in an appropriate amount of time?

 

Kind Regards,  Kevin

Message 1 of 3
Latest reply
2 REPLIES 2

Does Insurance become a problem if an International Article goes missing?

lyndal1838
Honored Contributor

The seller is the only one who can lodge a PO claim.

Ask the buyer to wait till the PO has processed the claim....if they say the parcel is missing then refund the buyer and you should get your money from AP.  No-one should be put of pocket.

You could refund the buyer now, but there is always the chance that AP will find the parcel when they start investigating.

Message 2 of 3
Latest reply

Does Insurance become a problem if an International Article goes missing?

Thank you Lyndal,

I might leave it a few days and talk to PayPal (and see whether the parcel arrives after the weekend). I assume it will take about 6 weeks for Australia Post to make their enquiries (based on the last time I had a claim go through the whole process 12 or 14 years ago).

Kind Regards, Kevin

Message 3 of 3
Latest reply