Explains the insurance options available in ShipStation and how to add insurance to shipments.
You may wish to insure your shipments to help protect you should your shipments ever get lost or damaged en route to your customers. ShipStation provides a few ways for you to add insurance to your parcels before creating a label:
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Carrier Insurance (insurance provided through the parcel carrier)
You can manually add insurance to your parcels when configuring your shipment or have ShipStation add it automatically with an Automation Rule.
Insurance Purchased Outside of ShipStation
If you have an account with an insurance provider not available in ShipStation, you can indicate which shipments this insurance covers by selecting the Other option from the Insurance drop-down menu. This is for record-keeping purposes only.
If you added insurance to a shipment and need to know how to file a claim, visit our How do I file an Insurance claim? help article.
There are several ways to manually add insurance in ShipStation:
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Add to a single order when configuring the shipment
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Add to multiple orders using a Bulk Action
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Add to multi-package shipments (a multi-package shipment is a single shipment that includes more than one package)
You can also create an Automation Rule that will add insurance to shipments when the orders import and meet the rule's criteria (for example, the order contains a specific item, exceeds a certain value, or ships to a specific location).
The sections below explain each way to add insurance in ShipStation.
To add insurance to a single shipment:
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Click the Insurance drop-down menu in the Configure Shipment Widget.
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Select the type of insurance you wish to add to the shipment.
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Enter the amount you wish to insure for, if different than the Amount Paid.
When specifying an Insure Amount, enter the full amount you wish to declare. Do not subtract the carrier's default coverage amount.
To add insurance to multiple shipments at once:
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Select the orders you wish to add insurance to.
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Click Bulk Update and choose Insurance.
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Select the type of insurance to add.
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Enter the Insure Amount.
When specifying an Insure Amount, enter the full amount you wish to declare. Do not subtract the carrier's default coverage amount.
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Choose Update Selection.
You can then continue creating the labels for these shipments.
If you create a multi-package shipment, the Insured Amt. field will be disabled. You must add insurance to each package of the shipment individually.
To add insurance to multi-package shipments:
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Select the type of insurance you wish to use, if you have not already, from the Insurance drop-down menu.
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Click the plus sign
to create additional packages or the
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Enter the amount of insurance for each individual package, then click Save Packages.
You can create an Automation Rule so ShipStation will automatically add insurance to orders as soon as they import if the orders meet specific criteria.
Learn About Automation Rules
If you are unfamiliar with creating Automation Rules, review our Introduction to Automation Rules and Create Automation Rules help articles to learn how they work.
In this Automation Rule example, the rule action adds ParcelGuard to all orders that meet the rule criteria. The rule criteria can be anything you choose, but for this example, the rule applies ParcelGuard if the order ships from a specific Ship From Location, has a recipient address in Boston, Los Angeles, or Chicago, and has an Order Total greater than $100.
Things to keep in mind when creating insurance Automation Rules:
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Use numbers only for currency amounts. Special characters for currency ($, £, ¢, €, etc) cannot be used in the fields for numerical values.
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When an automation rule adds insurance to an order, the insured amount will always default to the order’s Amount Paid. You cannot set a different amount in the rule, but you can manually adjust the amount on the order before you create the label, if needed.
Some carriers offer their own additional insurance coverage, which you can add if your shipment is valued above their default coverage amount. Default coverage is the maximum value the carrier will protect against without purchasing additional insurance. No additional insurance needs to be added for shipments at or below the default coverage value.
For shipments valued above the default amount, add Carrier Insurance to the shipment if you wish the package to be covered entirely by the carrier. Keep in mind that this will result in a higher rate for your shipping label.
Please note that not all carriers provide default coverage or the ability to purchase additional carrier insurance. Additionally, the default loss/damage coverage, if available, is determined by each carrier. If you are unsure of the default coverage provided by your selected carrier, review your carrier's help center or contact your carrier support team.
If you have purchased third-party insurance outside of ShipStation, you can indicate this per shipment in ShipStation. This option is available so you can identify that you purchased insurance for a shipment for a specific declared value. However, this option does not provide any additional access to file an insurance claim or allow you to enter the name of the insurer. It is for record-keeping purposes only.
The Insured Amt will default to the Amount Paid value. You can adjust this amount manually by typing in a new value. When entering the declared value, enter the full amount you wish to declare. Do not subtract the default coverage amount.
Using Bulk Actions to Apply Insurance
When applying insurance through a bulk action or an automation rule, the Insure Amt will always equal the Amount Paid value. You can edit the amount on each individual order before you create the label if needed.
If you are creating a multi-package shipment, the insured amount will be disabled. You must add insurance to each package in the shipment individually.