Filing Damage Claims can be time consuming and exhausting. If you do not file your claims on time you will be at a HUGE loss. This can cripple your business and ultimately can cause you to go belly up.

I am going to provide you some helpful tips I have in place for GROUND orders only. I will be talking about Freight orders in my next post.

When filing a claim you will need to be prepared to provide:

1)      Manufacturers / Vendors original invoice

2)      Declaration of Loss /Damage

3)      Value

4)      Insurance Protection Amount

5)      Sales Receipt to Customer

Manufacturers / Vendor original invoice:

When you initially file a claim you must have a break down on what your total cost is to replace the item. If you purchased in bulk, write on the copy of the invoice the cost per unit. Point it out for the Claims Examiner to avoid delaying your claim from being paid.

If the buyer is demanding a full refund; then, the invoice to submit to the carrier will be for your loss of the sale. You can submit to them your online add or your receipt to the buyer. Be prepared to submit an explanation as to why you are submitting for the value of the sale.

“Due to the negligence and poor handling of the package entrusted to your company, we have suffered a great financial loss and damaged our relationship with our buyer. Consequently, discouraging our buyer from any future purchases while using your company as our shipper.”

We have several versions of this template and have founded effective with our claims department.

Declaration of Loss / Damage

All carriers will ask that you state in writing if the shipment can be replaced or of if it is a total loss.  This is determined by you and your customer. Can you salvage the item or no? Mostly, you will not. You are in the business of selling Brand New. I know that we do not have the space to store damaged items for possible salvage. Therefore, we rarely accept salvage.

**On occasion you may have a buyer that may want to do the repair themselves. Here is where excellent customer service comes in play. J Offer them a substantial discount. You will not be at a loss. On the contrary you will WIN big.

You can file the claim with the carrier for the cost of proving your Buyer a discount. This saves the carrier money and saves you a loyal buyer.

I like to give my buyers Gift Certificates (or Coupons, but I like to refer to them as a Gift Certificate) I already know what they like. Therefore, we provide them with the due discount due to the damage the item sustained while in transit and offer the Gift Certificate. Of course you need to set up your guidelines on the amount.

Value

I have found this to vary from carrier and Claims Examiner. You must ask the Claims Examiner to clearly state what VALUE are they referring to.  ( I will come back to this later in regards to Export shipments)

Value could mean the resale cost of the shipment or the Cost of the Item. Not as black and white or other areas. Make sure to ask every time. I find that more training is needed in the Claims Department of the carriers.

Insurance Protection

Always protect your shipments for the full sale amount. Play it Safe. In the event of damage you will not be at a total loss.

Sales Receipt

Provide a print out of the other order, some carriers do accept Online Advertisements. Or create a new copy of the receipt NOT to INCLUDE any personal identifiable information such as Credit Cards or Checking Account Numbers.

***New laws have passed making you also responsible for the loss of customer information***

If you are not organized, then its time. Do not let any claims pile up on you. Damages and Loss packages can occur. So when they do be Prepared. Have all your docs ready. You also MSUT file the claim per the ALLOWED time. Each carrier will vary. Check with your Account Manager and get it in writing.

It happen to us in the past. We had a New Team Member; she missed a step and cost us a loss of $2,500.00. No, she was not let go. She is now the Manager of the Team. Yeah for her!!

If you just started selling or are growing you should start implementing your own Damage Procedures Guide. As you start hiring you will find most of your time can be taken doing the training. Providing your new hires (Team Members) a Company Policy and Department Policy & Procedures Guide will benefit you immensely.

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