United States Postal Services
Refusal to honor insurance damages

I mailed out two priority mail packages with insurance from Torrance Main Post Office to the same person in United Kingdom in December. The addressee e-mailed me that one parcel's content had been damaged & there is visible mark that the package had been dropped. I contacted the Post Office & they had me file a claim through the main 800 number. Meanwhile the addressee also contacted the Royal Mail to pursue the claim. After over 6 months of run around & numerous letters & supplying pictures of the damaged parcel, the USPS refuses to honor their insurance, stating that the parcel was not adequately packed! There had been no actual inspection of the parcel by either Royal Mail or USPS and they had refused to do so, as was explained by the addressee to me. The same images that I had received from the addressee and showing not only adequate packaging but also the clear damage & resealing of the parcel by the carrier had been provided to both Royal Mail & USPS. At the time of mailing, the insurance premiums are collected & actually recommended on all International mails, but no exclusions or conditions are ever explained to any customer and none of these so-calleed rules & regulations are even on display at any Post Office. Even today you will have a hard time getting a copy of these and most Post Office employees are unfamiliar with these rules & exclusions. No inspection of the parcels mailed out is ever required or offered by any Postal Employee from a customer. I have been using the USPS for over 6 years for similar parcels and had never been asked to show the packaging contents or explained about any such rules & exclusions. I do have copies of all correspondence & letters I had received from Post Office. Is this not considered as Insurance Fraud and what can I do? I can guarantee you that I am not the only one with the exact problem with the Post Office and this must be occuring more frequently now that they are in dire financial situation and near bankruptcy! Thank you for helping me in this fiasco.

Company: United States Postal Services
Country: USA
State: California
City: Torrance Post Office & International Claim Center
Address: 475 L'Enfant Plaza SW, Washington, DC 20260-0001

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