(Updated September 2025)
A lost parcel. An unhappy customer. Money down the drain. It's every shipper's nightmare, whether they're an e-tailer, a professional or an individual. At the heart of this anguish lies a crucial question: was your shipment insured? Really insured?
Forget everything you thought you knew. Most shippers navigate blindly, relying on basic guarantees that are veritable financial traps. This guide isn't just another article. It's your shield. It's the most comprehensive resource you'll find for understanding, choosing and using parcel insurance. By the time you've finished reading it, you'll never have to deal with the stress of a valuable shipment again. You'll master it.
1. What is Parcel Insurance?
Parcel insurance is your peace-of-mind contract. It's financial protection that covers you against the three scourges of transport: loss, theft and breakage.
Its sole aim is to compensate you for the actual declared value of your goods. It's not an option for valuables, it's the foundation of a professional and secure shipment.
2. Why ignoring parcel insurance is a fatal strategic mistake
Taking out insurance isn't an expense, it's a strategic investment in the long-term future of your business. Here's why.
To protect your cash flow
In the event of a claim, you don't just lose the value of the product. You lose the order, the shipping costs, and you often have to send back a second product at your own expense. Insurance breaks this vicious circle and protects your margin.
To save your reputation
A customer whose parcel is lost or damaged doesn't blame the Carrier. They blame YOU. Fast crisis management, with insurance that lets you reship or refund without delay, turns an irate customer into a loyal ambassador.
To limit spillover
Do you ship internationally? Sending fragile items? Are you facing the Peak Season (Black Friday, Christmas)? Insurance is your only guarantee of getting through these turbulent times without losing your feathers.
3. The Deadly Trap of "Inclusive" Insurance vs. Real Protection
This is where 90% of senders go wrong. There are two worlds.
- Basic Compensation (Included): Offered by default by carriers, it is almost always based on weight (e.g. 23€/kg). It's an illusion of security. Your smartphone costs €1,200 (200g)? You'll be compensated for less than 5€. Your jewelry at 800€ (50g)? Just over 1€. It's useless protection for any object of value.
- Supplementary Insurance (Ad Valorem): It's the ONLY one that counts. "Ad Valorem" means "according to value". It's an option you take out to declare the real value of your property and be compensated on that basis. Whether through the Carrier or, better still, a specialist insurer, it's the only real protection.
4. How to use Parcel Insurance: The 3-Step Process
Subscribe at the right time
Insurance is taken out when you create your shipment, never afterwards. You can do this directly with the Carrier (see our articles on La Poste insurance, Chronopost) or, for greater coverage and flexibility, with a specialized third-party insurer.
Declaring fair value
Declare the exact value of your object, with supporting evidence (invoice, appraisal). Don't undervalue to save a few pennies - you'll be undercompensated. Don't overestimate the value, as the insurer will check.
Managing claims
In the event of a claim, speed is of the essence. Contact the insurer immediately, provide the proof requested (proof of value, photos of damage, conformity of packaging) and respect the contractual deadlines.
5. When is Shipping Insurance NOT NEGOTIABLE?
If you recognize yourself in one of these profiles, never send a parcel without genuine Ad Valorem insurance.
E-traders with Products > €100
Break-even point: from €100 of value, the cost of insurance (0.5 to 1% of the value) is derisory compared to the risk of total loss. The calculation is simple: to protect a €500 product, you invest between €2.50 and €5. In the event of a claim without insurance, you lose €500, plus shipping and customer management costs.
Particularly exposed sectors:
- Electronics & high-tech: high breakage rate (screens, fragile components) and high unit value
- Luxury fashion & accessories: A prime target for sorting center theft
- Cosmetics & perfumes: Fragile glass containers, risk of leakage
- Jewelry & Watches: Value concentrated in a small volume, maximum risk
Example: For a €1,000 iPhone, insurance costs around €7 to €10. Without it, a claim would cost you €1,000 in merchandise + €15 for initial shipping + €15 for re-shipping + 2 to 3 hours of customer management. The return on your insurance investment is immediate as soon as the first claim is avoided.
B2B professionals (samples, prototypes, spare parts)
Your shipments don't always have a "market value" that's easy to prove, but they do represent critical stakes:
- R&D hours: A lost prototype can represent weeks of engineering work
- Unique manufacturing costs: molds, limited series, customized parts that cannot be quickly replaced
- Time-critical projects: A sample that doesn't arrive on time can cost you a contract
Solution: Documented replacement value insurance. Keep your manufacturing estimates, valued time spent, and express forwarding costs as proof of value.
International Shippers
Risks multiplied by 3 to 5: Statistics from the logistics sector show that international shipments suffer significantly more losses than domestic ones.
Aggravating factors :
- Customs clearance: opening packages for inspection, additional handling
- Distances and transshipments: More logistical steps = greater risk of loss or misrouting
- Variable regulations: each country has its own rules, some carriers subcontract locally
- At-risk zones: Some destinations have notoriously higher claims rates
Minimum recommended coverage: 100% of declared customs value. Make sure your insurance also covers the specificities of international business (customs fees in the event of return, destruction by the authorities, etc.).
Individuals Selling on Marketplace (Vinted, Leboncoin, eBay, Vestiaire Collective)
Myth: "I sell second-hand, so I don't need insurance".
Legal reality: As the shipper, you remain legally responsible until the buyer has taken delivery. A second-hand Chanel bag costing €800 remains a €800 financial risk for you. In the event of loss, the buyer can :
- Demand a full refund
- Open a dispute on the platform (which will rule in your favor)
- Leave a negative review that will ruin your reputation as a seller
Typical use cases requiring insurance :
- Luxury leather goods: Hermès, Chanel, Louis Vuitton (even vintage)
- Watches: Rolex, Omega, Cartier, Tag Heuer...
- Jewelry: Gold, silver, precious stones
- Refurbished high-tech: iPhone, iPad, MacBook, game consoles
- Musical instruments: Guitars, violins, professional audio equipment
Marketplace tip: On some platforms, such as Vinted, insurance up to €200 is included in the buyer protection fee. Beyond that, it's up to you to take out additional protection.
Peak Season shipments
During Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the holiday season, parcel volumes soar. Direct consequences:
- Saturation of sorting centers: Faster handling = more errors and breakage
- Seasonal recruitment: less experienced staff
- Longer lead times: More time in transit = more exposure to risk
Recommendation: If you usually insure only parcels > €200, lower this threshold to €100 during the Peak Season. Consult our Peak Season guide for optimum preparation.
Universal Criterion: Value > 10x Insurance Cost
The golden rule of risk management: if the value of the property exceeds 10 times the cost of the insurance, the latter is mathematically always profitable, even with a very low claims ratio.
Simple calculation :
- Insurance at €15 → Break-even point: €150
- Insurance at €50 → Break-even point: €500
- Insurance at €100 → Break-even point: €1,000
Logic: even if you only have one claim every 50 shipments (a high 2% loss ratio), the cost of insurance is still much lower than the cost of a single claim not covered.
Practical example: You ship 100 parcels costing €300 with insurance at €3 each (1% of the value). Total cost of insurance: €300. If you suffer just 1 claim on these 100 parcels, you would lose €300 without insurance. With insurance, you're protected and the cost remains under control.
6. Limits and exclusions to be aware of
Not all insurance is created equal. Always check:
- Compensation Limits : from a few hundred euros for carriers to over €100,000 for specialists.
- The List of Excluded Items: Many basic contracts exclude jewelry, art, high-tech... Read the fine print! This is often where unpleasant surprises lurk.
7. Comparison: Carrier vs. Specialized Insurer
Now that you understand the importance of Ad Valorem insurance, a strategic question remains: should you purchase it from your Carrier or from an independent specialist insurer? Each approach has its advantages and limitations. Here's an objective comparison to help you choose, which you can expand on with our interactive Carrier Ad Valorem Offers Comparison or on our annual Parcel Insurance Rankings.
Option 1: Ad Valorem insurance via Carrier (La Poste, Chronopost, DHL, UPS...)
✅ Benefits
- Easy to use: one-click subscription when creating the shipping label, no additional steps required
- Centralized management: a single point of contact for monitoring AND insurance, a single interface
- No technical integration: ideal for occasional shippers or beginners
- Suitable for small volumes: Relevant if you ship fewer than 20 insured parcels per month
- Immediate availability: No account validation required, instant activation
❌ Disadvantages
- LimitedLimits : generally €5,000 maximum with La Poste/Colissimo, €7,600 with Chronopost. Insufficient for high-value goods
- Numerous exclusions: Jewellery, works of art, precious metals and sometimes high-tech items are excluded or very restricted, depending on the policy.
- Uncompetitive pricing: Fixed-tier structure (e.g. €0-150, €150-300...) can be disadvantageous. No volume degressivity
- Long claims processing times: 60 to 90 days on average, sometimes longer if the case is complex.
- Rigid procedures: paper forms, registered mail, sometimes Kafkaesque process
- Limitation to Carrier : If you want to change Carrier for a shipment, you have to change your insurance too.
📊 For whom?
E-merchants shipping less than 50 insured parcels per month, standard products (clothing, books, small household appliances), medium values (€50-500), one-off shipments.
Useful resources: Consult our detailed analyses of La Poste/Colissimo insurance and Chronopost insurance.
Option 2: Specialized Parcel Insurance (Claisy, Shipsurance...)
✅ Benefits
- HighLimits : up to €100,000 per parcel with Claisy, or even more with some specialists. Suitable for very high-value goods
- Broad coverage: few or no exclusions. Watches, jewelry, art, high-tech, CBD... Most goods are insurable
- Degressive rates: The more you ship, the less you pay per parcel. Billing as a percentage of actual value (e.g. 0.75% for regular volume).
- Rapid compensation: 48 to 72 hours possible with digital players like Claisy, compared with 2 to 3 months with carriers
- Carrier flexibility: Use the Carrier of your choiceChronopost today, DHL tomorrow, UPS the day after tomorrow). Your insurance remains the same
- Possible automation: Integration via API, webhook or e-commerce connectors (Shopify, WooCommerce, PrestaShop) to automatically handle all your shipments.
- Dedicated customer service: Personalized assistance, responsive support, expert advice
❌ Disadvantages
- Additional step: Insurance must be purchased separately from shipment (unless automatically integrated).
- Initial validation: Some insurers require account validation or a minimum volume.
- Technical integration: full automation may require a developer (but no-code connectors are available)
- Less suitable for very small volumes: If you ship fewer than 5 insured parcels per month, the simplicity of the Carrier may prevail.
📊 For whom?
Professionals regularly shipping valuable goods (> €500), e-tailers with significant volumes (> 50 parcels/month), sectors with specific needs (luxury goods, art, high-tech, watchmaking), companies looking to optimize their insurance costs.
🎯 Focus Solution: Claisy
Claisy specializes in digital parcel insurance for demanding professionals. Here are the key features:
- Limit : Up to €100,000 per shipment (covers 95% of market needs)
- Price guide: From 0.75% of declared value, decreasing according to monthly volume
- Claims processing time: 48 to 72 hours after validation of complete file
- Carrier compatibility: All express carriersChronopost, DHL, UPS, FedEx, Colissimo, GLS...).
- Geographic coverage: Worldwide, excluding active conflict zones
- Accepted goods: High-tech, watches, jewelry, luxury leather goods, art, CBD, and most high-value products.
- Integrations: Shopify, WooCommerce, PrestaShop native connectors + full REST API
- Management: Online dashboard for declaring claims, tracking files, downloading certificates
Claisy pricing example:
- Package €1,000 → ~€7.50 insurance
- Package €5,000 → ~€37.50 insurance
- Package €20,000 → ~€150 insurance
Indicative rates for regular volume. Contact Claisy for personalized pricing based on your profile.
Ideal Claisy use case: You're an e-tailer of second-hand watches, shipping 30 to 50 watches a month with an average value of €3,000. With Claisy, you pay around €22 insurance per watch, you're covered up to €100,000, and in the event of a claim you're indemnified within 48 to 72 hours. You can use DHL for Europe and UPS for the USA without changing insurers.
Option 3: Premium Specialized Carrier (Malca-Amit, Brink's, Ferrari Group...)
For exceptional shipments requiring the highest level of security, there's a third category: carriers specializing in very high-value goods.
✅ Benefits
- Maximum security: armored vehicles, armed security guards, real-time GPS tracking
- Integrated insurance: automatically covered, with very high Limits (up to several million euros)
- All-inclusive service: secure pick-up, transport, certified hand-delivery
- Business expertise: Staff specifically trained in luxury goods, art and jewelry
- International network: Safe deposit boxes in major cities, optimized customs procedures
❌ Disadvantages
- Very high cost: several hundred euros minimum per shipment, even thousands for international deliveries
- Planning required: Reservation lead times, no immediate dispatch
- Surdimensionné pour la plupart des envois : Inadapté économiquement pour des colis < 50 000 €
📊 For whom?
Auction houses, art galleries, luxury jewelers, prestige watchmakers, consignments > €100,000, museum collections, irreplaceable one-offs.
When to choose Malca-Amit rather than Claisy: Exceptional shipments over €100,000, need for physical escort, transport of complete collections, very high-risk destinations requiring a dedicated security infrastructure.
Conclusion on Ad Valorem insurance
In conclusion, parcel insurance is not a gadget, it's a fundamental strategic tool. It protects your money, your reputation and your peace of mind. By understanding the crucial difference between bogus guarantees and genuine Ad Valorem insurance (see our encyclopedia of all parcel insurance offers), you can turn every shipment from a risky gamble into a professional operation controlled from start to finish.