An insured shipment is one whose actual value is covered by an insurance policy, not solely by the liability of Carrier. This distinction is not merely semantic: the compensation included in your postage is calculated based on weight, not value. A 900-gram package containing 1,200 euros worth of merchandise is covered for approximately 21 euros with Colissimo and 30 euros with Chronopost. You are responsible for the remainder.
This guide is intended for retailers, small businesses that ship goods, and logistics providers who ship to France and Europe. It explains where your Carrier ’s liability ends, at what threshold insurance becomes a sound investment, how much it actually costs, and how to streamline the process without adding unnecessary complexity to your operations. All rates cited were taken from the official tables in September 2026.
What is insured shipping?
This is a shipment for which you have purchased coverage for the declared value of the goods, in addition to or in lieu of the flat-rate compensation provided by Carrier. This coverage ensures that you will be reimbursed for the actual value of the contents in the event of loss, theft, or damage occurring during transit.
The basic premise is often misunderstood: a carrier is not an insurer. It is a service provider whose liability is governed by legal and contractual limits. These limits were never intended to compensate for the full value of the goods. They serve to make the delivery company risk predictable and insurable—which is legitimate from the carrier’s perspective—but this leaves the shipper to bear the difference.
There are therefore three levels of coverage, and it is important not to confuse them. The coverage included by default, which is automatic and capped based on weight. The “declared value” option offered by Carrier, which requires an additional fee and is capped based on value. And the ad valorem insurance purchased from an insurer or broker, which is independent of Carrier and based on the actual value of the shipment.
What is the difference between carrier liability and ad valorem insurance?
Carrier's liability is a limit expressed in euros per kilogram, as set forth in international conventions or in its general terms and conditions. Ad valorem insurance is a separate policy, based on the declared value of the goods. The former depends on weight, while the latter depends on value. For a light but expensive package, the difference between the two is considerable.
There are three practical differences that matter in everyday life. First, the basis for calculation, as already mentioned. Second, the burden of proof: in both cases, it’s up to you to prove the value, but with ad valorem insurance, that value is set at the time of enrollment, whereas with “ Carrier ” (as-is) coverage, the amount is negotiated after the loss occurs. Finally, the processing time: a claim Carrier is typically settled over several weeks, sometimes several months, whereas a dedicated insurance policy is bound by a contractual timeframe.
How much does your Carrier actually cover today?
Much less than most shippers anticipate. The table below uses a deliberately simple example from e-commerce—a 2-kilogram package worth 1,200 euros—and applies the current rates to show how much you’ll have to pay depending on the shipping option you choose.
Two key takeaways emerge from these figures. The first is that the included insurance covers only a marginal fraction of a valuable shipment—about 4% in our example. The second is that carriers’ declared-value options also have a “ Limit,” set at 1,000 euros for Ad Valorem Colissimo. Above that amount, the option simply does not exist, no matter how much you would be willing to pay.
A third point deserves attention and does not appear in a table: excluded or restricted goods. Carriers’ general terms and conditions frequently exclude certain categories from coverage, even when the coverage option has been paid for. Be sure to check this list before purchasing coverage for sensitive goods, or you may end up paying for coverage that will never apply.
At what value should a shipment be insured?
The key indicator is not the value of the package but its value per kilogram. As soon as this exceeds the weight- Limit d on your Carrier, the difference is covered by your cash flow. With a Limit of 23 euros per kilogram, any package whose value density exceeds this threshold is partially underinsured, which applies to virtually all manufactured goods.
Let’s look at three examples. A retailer of textile accessories ships packages weighing 800 grams for 45 euros, or 56 euros per kilo: there’s a difference, but it’s manageable. A retailer of electronic spare parts ships 400 grams for 380 euros, or 950 euros per kilogram, and is covered for 9 euros out of 380. A wholesaler of professional equipment ships 12 kilograms for 4,000 euros: they are covered for 276 euros, and no standard “ Carrier ” option allows them to reach the actual value.
The issue of frequency is just as important as that of the amount. An isolated claim involving an expensive shipment can be managed. However, recurring exposure in a regular flow of shipments becomes a structural loss that is best converted into a predictable fixed cost.
How much does it cost to insure a shipment?
Two pricing models coexist. The “ Carrier ” options are flat-rate and tiered: “Ad Valorem Colissimo” costs a flat fee of 2.90 euros plus 1 euro per 100 euros insured, for a total of 12.90 euros for 1,000 euros of coverage—or 1.29% of the value. Dedicated ad valorem insurance is proportional and on a sliding scale: at Claisy, there is no minimum cost and no hidden fees.
The difference between a flat rate and a proportional rate is most evident at the extremes. For a small shipment, you pay the full flat rate: insuring 150 euros with a tiered option results in an effective rate well above 2 percent. For a shipment of 5,000 euros, the flat rate becomes irrelevant, and a simpler question arises: does the option’ Limit e even cover the amount?
To think in terms of an annual budget rather than unit cost, the formula fits on a single line. Compare the annual cost of insurance—that is, the rate applied to your shipped revenue—to your annual uncovered loss, which is the number of claims multiplied by the average difference between the value of the loss and the compensation received. If you don’t know your actual number of claims, that’s the first figure to look up in your back office: it’s almost always underestimated, because small disputes are often reimbursed to the customer without ever being recorded as a shipping claim.
How to Insure Your Shipments, Step by Step?
The process consists of six steps, the first three of which are diagnostic in nature and can be completed in half a day using your own shipping data.
Step 6 is the one that shippers underestimate the most. As long as the subscription process remains manual, it depends on an operator’s attention to detail when printing the label, and it will be overlooked precisely on peak days when the risk is highest. An automatic rule triggered by a value threshold eliminates this point of failure.
Insured vs. Uninsured Shipping: Two Scenarios with Cost Breakdowns
The difference isn't measured at the time of shipment but at the time of the loss. Let's take the example of a 2-kilogram package worth 1,200 euros, shipped via Colissimo, that was lost in transit. The two scenarios below are based on exactly the same shipment.
Without supplemental coverage, you file a claim, gather the supporting documents, and receive 46 euros as part of the included compensation, provided the claim is approved. In the meantime, you have either refunded or reshipped the order to your customer to preserve the relationship, so you have borne the cost of the merchandise twice. The net loss is nearly 1,154 euros, not to mention the administrative time spent on the case.
With ad valorem coverage at 0.75% excl. VAT, the premium for this shipment is 9 euros. Compensation is based on the declared value—1,200 euros—subject to the terms and limits of the contract. Relative to the shipment, the cost of coverage represents less than 1% of the total value, and it can be passed on in your selling price without any noticeable impact on conversion rates.
The math changes when you look at it in terms of volume. Based on 2,000 shipments per year at 1,200 euros each, the annual premium comes to 18,000 euros. It only takes fifteen uninsured claims in a year to reach the same amount of out-of-pocket loss. It’s up to you to compare this threshold with your actual claims rate, including reshipped claims.
What Insurance Never Covers
We might as well set the limits clearly, since they’re pretty much the same across all market players. There are four categories of exclusions that come up consistently, and no reputable insurance company will promise to cover them.
- Insufficient or inappropriate packaging. This is the number one reason for denial of compensation, ahead of all other causes. Complying with the packaging specifications on Carrier is not just a formality—it is a condition of the warranty.
- Excluded or prohibited goods. Cash, certain types of valuables, and items prohibited from transport. These remain excluded from coverage even if you have purchased an optional coverage.
- Delayed delivery and its commercial consequences. Delays are governed by a separate set of rules; generally, this involves reimbursement of shipping costs. Lost profits resulting from a late delivery are almost never compensated.
- Seizure, confiscation, or destruction by a public authority. A package held at customs due to non-compliance is a matter of document compliance, not insurance.
To this must be added the inherent defect of the goods, that is, a defect that existed prior to shipment. Cargo insurance covers incidents that occur during transit; it is not a substitute for a product warranty or quality control.
Shipping to Europe: What Varies from Country to Country
The legal framework is the same for international transport, but the commercial terms are not. For road transport, the CMR Convention limits compensation to 8.33 SDRs per kilogram, or approximately 10 euros. For air transport, the Montreal Convention has set the limit at 26 SDRs per kilogram since December 28, 2024. These Limits apply regardless of the country of origin.
What varies are the policies of national carriers and their claims procedures. The amount per kilogram, the absolute cap, the very existence of a declared value option, its limit, the list of exclusions, and—above all—the deadlines for filing a claim differ from one carrier to another. A shipper working with four carriers across six markets effectively manages as many compensation schemes as there are combinations.
It is this fragmentation—rather than the level of the Limits —that drives structured shippers to centralize. A single contract applicable regardless of the Carrier reduces management to a single point of contact, a single deadline, and a single list of exclusions, which affects both the administrative burden and the amount recovered.
Why Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and Micro-Enterprises Centralize Their Insurance Coverage
Because the true cost of a claim isn’t limited to the value of the merchandise. It includes the time spent processing the claim, follow-ups, reimbursement to the end customer—which occurs well before the insurance payout—and the impact on the customer relationship. For a small business, it is these indirect costs that weigh the heaviest.
There are three criteria worth comparing before choosing any solution. The per-parcel limit, which should cover your most expensive shipment, not your average order value. The contractual compensation timeline, which determines your cash flow needs. And technical integration, because coverage that doesn’t integrate with your back-office systems won’t be applied reliably.
At Claisy, this means coverage of up to 100,000 euros per package, disputes processing within 48 to 72 hours, and integrations with Shopify, Wix, PrestaShop, WooCommerce, and Magento, as well as an API for proprietary back-office systems. Coverage is automatically triggered based on your own value thresholds, without any action required when printing the label.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sources
- laposte.fr, Colissimo guarantees and compensation, and online help for businesses, accessed in September 2026
- chronopost.fr, E-Chrono compensation terms and conditions and the Ad Valorem Insurance page, accessed in September 2026
- Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road (CMR), limit of 8.33 SDRs per kilogram
- Montreal Convention: Liability Limit Increased to 26 SDR per Kilogram as of December 28, 2024