Introduction: Why Delivery Insurance Has Become Essential
French e-commerce reached a decisive milestone in 2024: according to Fevad, more than 2.3 billion online transactions were made, generating €160 billion in revenue. Behind these impressive figures lies a complex operational reality for retailers managing delivery-related risks.
Each package shipped represents both a promise made to your customer and a financial risk for your business. Between 1.2% and 1.8% of shipments suffer damage (loss, theft, breakage) depending on the time of year and the carrier. For a retailer 500 shipments per month with an average basket value of €120, this represents an annual risk exposure of €8,600 to €12,900.
Beyond the direct financial impact, delivery disputes have become the leading cause of customer dissatisfaction in e-commerce. An industry study reveals that more than one in three consumers will not recommend a retailer after a poorly handled dispute. In a context where customer acquisition costs (CAC) are skyrocketing and loyalty is becoming critical, every claim that is not resolved quickly destroys months of marketing efforts.
The health crisis of 2020-2021 has accelerated this awareness. The explosion in volumes (+42% of parcels shipped in two years) has saturated logistics networks, automatically increasing accident rates. At the same time, consumer expectations in terms of transparency and responsiveness have changed radically. Customers now expect a response and a solution within 48 hours in the event of a problem.
Faced with these challenges, delivery insurance is no longer an option reserved for luxury retailers or international shipments. It has become a strategic pillar of risk management for any retailer , on a par with conversion optimization and acquisition cost control.
This comprehensive guide reveals everything you need to know to secure your shipments, protect your cash flow, and transform dispute management from a cost center into a competitive advantage.
The True Cost of a Lost Package
One package never arrives. Another is stolen from the doorstep. The customer is furious, your money has vanished, and your reputation is at stake.
Does this situation sound familiar? You are not alone. In the United States, approximately 1.7 million packages are stolen or lost every day during the holiday season. In France, with 2.3 billion e-commerce transactions annually and a loss rate of 1.5%, this represents more than 34 million problematic packages each year.
The problem? In your customer's eyes, there is only one person responsible: YOU. Even if it was the Carrier lost the package, even if it was stolen by a thief, it is your brand that suffers.
Stop viewing these losses as inevitable. Delivery insurance isn't an option—it's your e-commerce business's immune system.
What is E-commerce Delivery Insurance? Definition and Framework
E-commerce delivery insurance is a contract that covers the financial risks associated with transporting goods between your warehouse (or that of your logistics provider) and your end customer. It protects the value of your products in the event of loss, theft, damage, or sometimes even delivery delays.
The Different Types of Delivery Insurance
Ad valorem insurance is the most comprehensive form of insurance and the most suitable for professional e-commerce. The Latin term "ad valorem" means "according to value." Unlike flat-rate insurance based on weight, it covers your goods for their actual declared value. If you ship a laptop worth $1,200, you will be compensated on that basis, rather than on a derisory calculation per kilogram.
Carrier insurance is automatically included in your shipping contract. But beware: this "insurance" is actually a limitation of Carrier liability, capped at very low amounts (typically €23/kg for Colissimo and €250 for Chronopost telephony). For valuable products, this coverage is largely insufficient.
Carrier insurance allows you to purchase additional coverage directly from the carrier (Chronopost, DHL, UPS). It is convenient because it is integrated into the shipping process, but it has significant limitations, which we will detail in the comparison below: Limits limited Limits (€7,600 with Chronopost, €50,000 with DHL), long lists of exclusions (refurbished products, jewelry, high-tech items depending on the carrier), and, above all, compensation delays of 60 to 90 days, which have a significant impact on your cash flow.
Independent insurance solutions such as Claisy have been developed to fill the gaps in carriers' offerings. They offer high coverage (up to €100,000 per package), few exclusions, express compensation times (48-72 hours), and independence from carriers, which drastically speeds up the resolution of transport disputes.
What Real E-commerce Insurance Covers (and What Others Leave Out)
Basic insurance reimburses you for the product. REAL e-commerce insurance goes further and, depending on the plan, may cover:
- ✅ The total selling price of the order (not just your purchase cost)
- ✅ The initial shipping costs you paid
- ✅ The cost of reshipping a new product to your customer
- ✅ The value perceived by the customer (price displayed including tax)
It's 360° protection that guarantees the incident will have ZERO impact on your margin. You can immediately reship or refund your customer without waiting weeks for the Carrier its investigation.
Legal Framework and Obligations in France and Europe
In France and the European Union, there is no legal obligation to take out delivery insurance beyond the Carrier basic liability. However, as a professional seller, you have contractual obligations towards your customers.
According to the Consumer Code, you are responsible for the proper delivery of the product until it is actually handed over to the customer. If the package is lost or damaged during transport, it is up to you to handle the delivery dispute with the Carrier offer your customer a quick solution (reshipment or refund). Waiting 90 days for the Carrier its investigation before compensating your customer is legally possible, but commercially suicidal.
Carriers, meanwhile, are governed by various international conventions depending on the mode of transport. For road transport in Europe, the CMR Convention applies, capping compensation at 8.33 Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) per kilogram, or approximately €10-11/kg. For air transport, the Montreal Convention sets Limits . These conventions protect carriers more than they protect shippers.
The key takeaway: you are not required to insure your packages beyond the legal minimum, but not doing so means self-insuring your risks, i.e., absorbing all losses yourself. For medium- to high-value products, this strategy quickly becomes more expensive than appropriate insurance.
Transportation Dispute Management: Old World vs. New World
The way you manage your delivery disputes directly impacts three critical aspects of your business: your cash flow, customer satisfaction, and your teams' working hours. The difference between traditional management and a modern automated approach is striking.
The Old World: Manual Management and Endless Delays
In the classic model, which is still widely used, here is the obstacle course that thousands ofretailers face every day.
Actual cost of this process: Beyond the temporary financial loss, the hidden cost is considerable. Your after-sales service teams spent between 45 minutes and 2 hours on this case (multiple emails, follow-ups, managing customer frustration). At an hourly rate of $35, this represents a processing cost of $25 to $70 per claim, in addition to the value of the package. And what if the Carrier ultimately Carrier compensation? You have lost the product, the time spent managing the issue, and the customer relationship.
The New World: 3 Steps to a Quick Resolution
Modern solutions like Claisy have been designed to eliminate bureaucratic complexity. Here is the actual process, from start to finish:
The insurer then takes care of recovering the compensation from the Carrier subrogation). This phase is transparent for you. You have already been compensated.
Processing time comparison:
- Old model: 5-10 hours of after-sales service management + 60-90 days waiting time
- New model: 5-minute declaration + 3-day refund
💡 WHY:
- Drastically simplified (less verbose than current version)
- Actionable numbered steps
- Includes the "subscription" aspect of the Loss/Theft article.
- Keeps the essentials of the timeline
- Duration: replaces existing section without net addition
Comparison Table: Old World vs. New World
This table illustrates the radical transformation of the claims management experience. For a retailer 10 to 15 claims per month, the annual time savings amount to tens or even hundreds of hours, equivalent to a part-time employee who can be reassigned to higher value-added tasks.
Focus Sectors: Jewelry, Watches, and Electronics
Certain sectors of e-commerce have specific characteristics that make delivery insurance even more critical. Jewelry, watches, and electronics are the three categories where coverage must be particularly scrutinized.
Jewelry and Watches: Exclusions to Watch Out For
The online market for luxury watches and jewelry is experiencing explosive growth. Platforms such as Chrono24, Wristcheck, and second-hand marketplaces such as Vestiaire Collective handle millions of transactions annually (and soon Dwice will do the same for vinyl). The average basket value frequently exceeds €2,000, with items costing €10,000, €50,000, or even more.
The problem? Almost all standard carrier insurance policies simply exclude jewelry, precious stones, precious metals, and often high-value watches. Chronopost, for example, explicitly excludes "jewelry and precious stones" from its optional coverage. DHL applies severe restrictions and requires specific certified packaging. Colissimo drastically limits coverage for these categories.
This exclusion is not insignificant. It means that even if you pay for ad valorem insurance with Carrier, your €8,000 Rolex watch or gold necklace will not be covered in the event of theft or loss. You will discover this exclusion at the worst possible moment: when you report the claim and the Carrier its general terms and conditions.
Specialized insurance solutions such as Claisy explicitly cover these products, provided that proof of value is provided (purchase invoice, certificate of authenticity, expert appraisal). For professionals in the sector, this is a prerequisite for operating with peace of mind. Some even opt for specialized cash-in-transit companies (Malca-Amit, Brink's) for exceptional items, but the cost becomes prohibitive for high-volume e-commerce.
Electronics and Refurbished: The Battle of Limits
The electronics sector, and particularly refurbished electronics, represents a major challenge. According to ADEME, the French market for refurbished electronics reached €1.8 billion in 2024, driven by players such as Back Market, Recommerce, and CertiDeal. Average basket values range from €300 to €800 (smartphones, tablets, laptops).
There are two issues here. First, many carriers classify electronics as "sensitive goods" and apply insurance rates that are two to five times higher than for "ordinary goods." A $600 smartphone can therefore cost $15 to $30 in Carrier insurance, compared to $4 to $6 with an independent insurer.
Secondly, "refurbished" or "used" status is often excluded or severely penalized. Some carriers categorically refuse to cover non-new products. Others apply depreciation discounts of up to 50% of the value, making the compensation negligible. Boxtal, for example, applies a 10% discount for any non-new item and up to 50% for items over 5 years old.
For retailers in refurbished goods, this discrimination is untenable. The solution lies with insurers who explicitly accept second-hand products and cover them at their actual market value, as justified by the sales invoice. Claisy is one of those players who do not make a price distinction between new and refurbished products, considering that the insured value is what you invoice your customer, regardless of the product's history.
Technological Integrations: The Automation Revolution
For retailers shipping dozens or hundreds of packages per day, manual insurance management quickly becomes an operational bottleneck. Modern insurance platforms understand this challenge and offer advanced technical integrations that transform insurance from a recurring administrative task into an invisible, automated process.
Native CMS Connectors: Insurance in One Click
Most retailers CMS (Content Management System) solutions to manage their online stores: Shopify for its simplicity and scalability, WooCommerce for its open-source flexibility, PrestaShop for its rich functionality, or Magento (Adobe Commerce) for enterprise architectures.
For large volumes, this level of automation transforms the economics of insurance. If you ship 200 packages per day, you save 200 manual handling operations per day, which would have represented several hours of repetitive, low-value-added work.
APIs and Webhooks: Deep Integration for Advanced Architectures
Organizations with more complex IT architectures (ERP, WMS, proprietary OMS, or solutions such as Manhattan, SAP EWM, Generix WMS, Reflex) can integrate insurance via modern REST APIs.
The principle is simple: when your system generates a shipment (creation of a delivery note, generation of a Carrier label), an API call is sent to the insurance platform with the necessary information (value of the package, description, destination address, Carrier , tracking number). The API instantly returns an insurance policy number that you can store in your system and even share with your customer.
Multi-Carrier Centralization: The Decisive Advantage
One of the major obstacles to carrier insurance is its fragmentation. If you use Chronopost express delivery in France, Colissimo for economy delivery in France, DHL for Europe, and UPS for international delivery, you are juggling four different insurance contracts, four Limits , four claims processes, and four variable timeframes.
Independent solutions eliminate this complexity by offering unified coverage regardless of the Carrier. You define your level of protection once and for all (for example: all packages insured at their actual value up to €100,000) and this level automatically applies to all your shipments, regardless of the carrier.
This centralization offers three major strategic advantages. First, you regain the flexibility to optimize your transportation costs by changing Carrier the season, destination, or performance, without ever impacting your insurance coverage. Second, your teams only have to master a single process, a single interface, and a single point of contact, which drastically reduces the risk of error and training time. Third, you finally get a consolidated view of your actual risks with unified KPIs: what is my overall loss ratio? Which products are most at risk? Which destinations generate the most disputes? This data becomes a lever for logistics and product optimization.
Comparing Market Solutions: Making the Right Choice
The e-commerce delivery insurance market has become significantly more structured in recent years. Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each type of solution allows you to make an informed choice that is tailored to your profile and ambitions.
Comparison Table: E-commerce Delivery Insurance Solutions 2025
Analysis byretailer Profile
Pour les débutants (< 50 colis/mois, panier moyen < 50€) : L'assurance transporteur de base peut suffire dans un premier temps. Le coût des sinistres reste absorbable et la complexité administrative d'une solution plus élaborée n'est pas encore justifiée. Cependant, dès que votre panier moyen augmente, prévoyez la transition.
For retailers (50-500 packages/month, average basket value €80-200): Now is the time to switch to an independent solution. Your exposure to risk is becoming significant (several thousand euros per month) and your volume justifies investing in automation. CMS modules and express compensation are becoming direct competitive advantages.
For specialized sectors (jewelry, watches, electronics, luxury goods): Regardless of your size, specialized insurance is essential from the very first sale. Carriers' exclusions expose you to total losses. Choose insurers who explicitly accept your product categories and do not discriminate against refurbished goods.
For large volumes (> 1,000 packages/month): Deep API integration with your WMS or ERP becomes a prerequisite. Multi-carrier centralization gives you the agility to optimize your logistics costs without insurance constraints. If you exceed 100,000 packages per month, a traditional broker can negotiate customized terms, but at the cost of increased administrative complexity.
Calculating Return on Investment: Is Insurance Profitable?
Manyretailers insurance as an additional cost that eats into their already tight margins. This view is misguided because it overlooks the hidden costs of not having insurance and the indirect benefits of appropriate coverage.
Concrete example: retailer and Beauty Devices retailer
Beyond the direct economic benefits,retailer transformed an unpredictable variable cost (claims fluctuate from month to month) into a controlled fixed cost (the insurance premium is proportional to volume). This predictability facilitates budget management and cash flow forecasting. And above all: the 5.5 hours per month saved by the after-sales service team (66 hours per year) can be reallocated to higher value-added tasks such as proactive customer loyalty initiatives or processing customer reviews.
ROI Table: Before/After Modern Insurance
This table shows that modern insurance is not a cost but a profitable investment from the very first month for any retailer a certain threshold in terms of volume and basket value.
Conclusion: Secure Your Shipments, Protect Your Growth
E-commerce delivery insurance is no longer a luxury reserved for merchants selling exceptional products. It has become a fundamental pillar of risk management for any e-commerce professional who wants to protect their cash flow, preserve their customer relationships, and focus on growing their business.
The figures speak for themselves: with an average loss ratio of 1.2% to 1.8% and carrier compensation times of 60 to 90 days, the real cost of non-insurance or poor insurance amounts to thousands or even tens of thousands of euros per year for a retailer . These financial losses are accompanied by an even greater hidden cost: the time spent by your teams on the administrative management of disputes, the frustration of your customers faced with endless resolution times, and the inability to differentiate yourself on a decisive competitive advantage.
The technological revolution brought about by modern solutions such as Claisy is radically changing the equation. Automation via APIs and CMS connectors eliminates repetitive tasks. Express compensation within 48-72 hours preserves your cash flow and customer relationships. Multi-carrier centralization gives you the agility to optimize your logistics costs without insurance constraints. And extended coverage for high-value products (jewelry, watches, refurbished electronics) allows you to target markets that were previously off-limits due to carrier insurance limitations.
Turn Cost Assurance into a Competitive Advantage
E-commerce delivery insurance is no longer a luxury reserved for merchants selling exceptional products. With a loss ratio of 1.5% and carrier delivery times of 60-90 days, the real cost of not having insurance amounts to thousands of euros per year for the retailer .
The figures speak for themselves: for a retailer 400 retailer per month with an average basket value of €180, that's €10,476 in annual losses compared to €6,692 with modern insurance. Net savings: €3,784/year + 66 hours of customer service time saved.
But beyond the savings, it's your reputation that's at stake. A customer who is dissatisfied with a poorly handled dispute will not recommend you to others. In a context where customer loyalty is becoming critical, every claim resolved in 48 hours instead of 90 days is a customer saved.
Your next step? Calculate your actual exposure: Monthly volume × Average basket size × 1.5% = Your potential monthly loss. Compare this to the cost of modern insurance. The decision becomes obvious.
Don't let the vagaries of transport threaten your business. Secure your shipments, protect your cash flow, and turn dispute management into a competitive advantage.
Sources :
- Fevad - Key figures for e-commerce in France in 2024: 2.3 billion transactions, €160 billion in revenue
- ADEME - Refurbished electronics market in France in 2024: €1.8 billion
- CMR Convention on road transport