An App That Can Upload Receipts for a Contents Insurance Claim

I recently bought a relatively expensive acoustic-electric guitar on eBay. I'm not a fan of buying something as personal equally an acoustic guitar without having played information technology starting time. But I had been in the market for several months, and I was frustrated because I wasn't able to detect the guitar I was looking for at a price I was willing to pay.

So I took a spring of faith and bought a guitar based on a few pictures and a couple of emails with the owner. The deal looked good, so I pulled the trigger (it was a buy-it-now deal, not a traditional auction).

I was excited to receive the guitar and immediately unpacked it to check it out. (The atmospheric condition and humidity were both moderate, which is important for acoustic guitars since extreme temperatures or humidity can impairment solid wood.

If the weather were very hot, common cold, or humid, I would have left the guitar in the box overnight before opening it, then the temperature and humidity would have a chance to acclimate).

The guitar looked nice on the showtime inspection—it was a little dirty, and the strings were rusty, but those were minor issues, even on a k dollar guitar. Strings tin can be changed, and guitars can exist cleaned and polished. The guitar was reasonably in tune, so I strummed it for a while, and so decided to really give it the once-over.

That was when I noticed some cracks where the binding attaches to the top and bottom of the guitar and an inch long crack above the input jack on the base of the guitar. And I was terribly disappointed.

I immediately contacted the seller via eBay to verify the guitar didn't have those issues when he mailed information technology and to verify he insured the guitar when he shipped information technology. The seller verified both problems. The guitar was well-packaged when I received it, and so it looks like it was up to me to file an insurance merits with the US Postal Service to rectify the event.

I was ready for a fight, and a bureaucratic nightmare. Thankfully, the process was relatively quick and easy. And I received a check from the US Postal Service in the corporeality of the anticipated repairs, and the cost of the aircraft. I'll walk you lot through the procedure of how I made the claim.

Filing an Insurance Merits with USPS

Filing a merits is pretty easy, especially if you do it online, which is the preferred method according to the Mail service Part worker I spoke with. He said online claims are processed more speedily and accurately than newspaper claims filed at the Post Office, or through the mail.

Here are the items you will need to file your claim, with more details beneath:

  • Original packaging
  • Gauge of Repair Toll
  • Evidence of Value
  • Official Claim form (when not filing online)
  • Original mailing receipt and proof of insurance, if available

Keep all your packaging, including the outer box, packing material, etc. You volition need to bring this to a US Post Office to take the Post Role workers inspect the box and shipping textile for damage and the ensure the item was adequately packed. In my case, the guitar was shipped in a heavy duty cardboard box designed specifically for shipping guitars (it was actually the same box used by the manufacturer of my guitar, so it was quite sturdy). In addition, the guitar was shipped inside a hard crush case, and the difficult case was wrapped with bubble wrap and placed within the large shipping box. It was adequately packaged.

After I entered my insurance merits, the USPS sent me a letter instructing me to take the letter of the alphabet with my claim number and the original aircraft materials to a Usa Post Role so they could inspect the shipping materials. There was some obvious harm to the box the guitar was shipped in. It looked similar it had been dropped on one corner.

Get a professional gauge of the repair costs. My guitar is a Taylor 414ce, so I took it to an authorized Taylor repair shop to go a professional estimate on the repairs. Thankfully, there was no major structural harm to my guitar. Information technology turns out the pocket-sized cracks on the binding were primarily cosmetic in nature, though the luthier recommended filling and sealing the cracks to prevent further separation or damage.

The cracks most likely happened when the guitar was dropped or slammed into something. In addition to the cracks, the activity was knocked out of alignment, making the guitar more difficult to play. Thankfully, that likewise was a relatively minor gear up. The repair estimate to set the cracks and perform a total set up was only $125, which under the circumstances, was much less than my initial fearfulness. The luthier gave me a written estimate, which I used to identify my claim with the Us Postal service.

Provide proof of the value of the item. A professional repair estimate is only one-half the boxing, as the USPS volition only recoup you up to the value of the item. In other words, they won't pay you lot $500 for repairs if the item is only worth $100. In my case, I simply copied the eBay purchase receipt and uploaded that when I filed my claim. Since this was a new buy, the receipt was the merely proof of value The USPS required.

Other valid means to prove value include an "invoice or bill of sale, a price statement for replacing Express Mail service documents, a copy of the canceled check, a copy of the money order receipt, a copy of the credit menu billing statement, or a final or complete transaction sheet indicating the amount deducted from an Net account." The USPS insurance claim system also has a way to enter information for items purchased in online auctions. In my situation, I stated the guitar was purchased through eBay and gave the listing number, along with a copy of the receipt.

Official Claim Course vs. filing online. The Mail service Office worker I spoke with recommended filing online, which worked well for me. The class to file a claim manually is PS Grade yard, Domestic or International Claim. Y'all tin obtain a  form at whatsoever Post Office location, or download information technology online.

The benefit of filing online is that you can upload documents and images directly to your claim and come back to your claim and make adjustments throughout the process. Filing a paper form means y'all need to have print outs of images and files and at that place is a longer lag time betwixt submitting documentation, and the Mail service Office processing it.

Original Mailing Receipt and/or Proof of Insurance. You may or may non accept this, depending if you lot were the sender or recipient. I was the recipient of the item, so I didn't have a copy of the mailing receipt. The item was insured, however, and there was a tracking number on the package, which was plenty for the Post Office to verify the item had insurance on information technology. Always try to get a copy of the actual receipt, just in case. But in my situation, it worked out without having a re-create.

Other tips: Always proceed a copy of everything for your records. I filed online, which made information technology like shooting fish in a barrel to upload .jpg and .pdf files. The Post Function may also transport you correspondence for your specific claim. Make a copy of that too, merely in case. You volition also need to create an online account with the The states Mail Office if you lot programme on filing your claim online.

Information technology's nice to have an account anyway, equally you lot tin can use it to place your mail service on hold when you go on vacation, purchase postage, file claims, and more than. Finally, when filling out the merits, be sure to specify where the check should be sent. Yous can have information technology sent to the sender, the receiver, or to a unlike address.

How long does an insurance claim take? As I mentioned earlier, I expected this to exist a very long and fatigued out process. Information technology actually went very smoothly. I did accept to get a professional repair estimate which took a couple of days to schedule an appointment. But once I had that, the other documentation was easy. The grade took most 20 minutes to fill out online. And so a few days later I received a request to accept the aircraft container to the closest Postal service Office with the letter of the alphabet they sent.

They inspected the box, filled out a course, and nigh a week later I received a check to cover the toll of the repair and the amount of the shipping (I wasn't expecting a refund on the aircraft, only that was nice). From start to finish, the process took well-nigh 3 weeks, but I can encounter situations where it may accept more or less time, depending on the state of affairs. Go along in listen, each case is unique, and so your mileage may vary.

Overall, I wasn't expecting to have to file a USPS insurance claim, but I'1000 happy the situation went as smoothly as it did.

Related Postal service:How We Manage Our Money on a Daily Footing

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Ryan Guina is the founder and editor of Cash Money Life. He is a writer, small business owner, and entrepreneur. He served over 6 years on active duty in the USAF and is a electric current member of the IL Air National Guard.

Ryan started Cash Money Life in 2007 afterwards separating from active duty military service and has been writing about financial, small business, and military benefits topics since and then. He also writes about armed services money topics and military and veterans benefits at The War machine Wallet.

Ryan uses Personal Capital to track and manage his finances. Personal Capital is a gratuitous software program that allows him to rail his net worth, balance his investment portfolio, rails his income and expenses, and much more than. Yous can open a free account here.

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Source: https://cashmoneylife.com/how-to-file-an-insurance-claim-with-usps/

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