The Meaning of Declared Value

When you're getting ready to ship something with your courier company you will have to fill out a request for a delivery. This is sometimes done through paper forms that they have given your, or often through an online interface today. One section that your courier service will have on those forms is something called declared value.

This is something that you will have to state for every package that you ship with the courier company. That is because this is the figure that will be used should you ever be forced to file an insurance claim with the company of any kind. When you tell them what your declared value is, you are telling them how much your package is worth. This is the maximum amount that you would be permitted to claim should something happen to your package which required an insurance claim to be made.

Filling out this section isn't necessarily as clear cut as simply putting down how much your package is worth. The reason for this is because of the size of the insurance policies which you courier may take out for packages being transported in certain sized courier vehicles. Their insurance is going to have a maximum declarable value for each package. That means that you can't claim more than that amount as a declared value, even if your package is worth more. This also means that should you make a claim, you will only receive that maximum declared value, not more, even if your goods were worth more.

This is why people sometimes buy their own insurance to add on to the policy which is already in place with the courier company. Many times this is done especially if they are shipping something which is worth a large amount more than whatever that maximum declared value figure should be. That way, they are able to receive adequate compensation should something unfortunate happen to their package.

Keep in mind that the declared value that you have stated does not always mean that you will receive a payout of that size should you be forced to make an insurance claim as well. As always, making an insurance claim is a complicated business in which many factors figure. You will have to provide proof of packaging, for instance, to show that you have done everything which was within your sphere of responsibility to make sure the package did not become damaged.