Explains the insurance options available in ShipStation and how to add insurance to shipments.
ShipStation provides a few options for adding insurance to your parcels before creating a label:
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Total Shipping Protection by XCover (a third-party ShipStation partner)
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Carrier Insurance (insurance from the service provider)
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Other (an insurance purchase outside of ShipStation)
You can add the insurance to your parcels manually when you configure your shipping options or with an Automation Rule.
If you added insurance to a shipment and need to learn how to file a claim, go to our How do I file an Insurance claim? help article.
There are several ways to manually add insurance in ShipStation:
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To a single order when configuring the shipment
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To multiple orders using a Bulk Action
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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 criteria (for example, the order contains a specific item, exceeds a certain order amount, or ships to a specific location).
The sections below explain each way to add insurance in ShipStation.
When entering a custom declared value, enter the full amount you wish to declare. Do not subtract the default coverage amount.
To add insurance to multiple shipments at once:
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Select the orders 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.
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Click Update Selection.
You can then proceed to create the labels for these shipments.
If you are creating a multi-package shipment, the insured amount will be grayed out. You must add insurance to each package in the shipment individually.
To add insurance to multi-package shipments:
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Select your insurance, if you have not already, from the Insurance drop-down menu in the Configure Shipment Widget.
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Click the plus sign
to create additional packages or the beside the number of packages (if packages have already been created) in the Configure Shipment Widget.
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Enter the amount of insurance for each individual package, then click Save Packages.
You can tell ShipStation to automatically add insurance to certain types of orders as soon as they import.
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 Total Shipping Protection to all orders that meet the rule criteria. The rule criteria can be anything you choose, but in this example, the rule applies Total Shipping Protection coverage if the order ships from a specific Ship From Location and has an order total greater than or equal to A$100.
Important
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Use numbers only for currency amounts in automation rules. Special characters for currency ($, £, ¢, €, etc) cannot be used with numerical values in automation rules.
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When you use an automation rule to add insurance, 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.
Total Shipping Protection by XCover
Total Shipping Protection by XCover is a shipment insurance option available to all UK-based ShipStation accounts using ShipStation One Balance. Funds are purchased with the payment method used for postage from ShipStation One Balance.
Total Shipping Protection covers shipments that have been lost, stolen, or damaged in transit. Total Shipping Protection will also reimburse you for return shipping costs (when your customer ships back damaged goods) and for the cost to reship new goods to your customer.
The cost of coverage is calculated based on the amount entered in the Insure Amt. field when you configure your shipment. Total Shipping Protection costs 1.25% of the Insure Amt. for domestic shipments and 1.75% of the Insure Amt. for international shipments.
Please see our guide to Total Shipping Protection by XCover and Total Shipping Protection's ShipStation partner page for more details on coverage, claims, and refunds.
Carrier Insurance
By default, many carriers’ services will include insurance in the shipping rate for packages up to a certain value. For shipments at or below this value, no additional insurance needs to be added.
For shipments valued above the default coverage, add carrier insurance to the shipment if you wish the package to be covered entirely by the carrier. This will result in a higher rate.
The default insurance coverage will vary by carrier. If you are unsure what the default coverage is for your selected carrier, review your carrier's help centre or contact your carrier support team.
Other Insurance
Apply this option to orders when you have purchased third-party insurance outside of ShipStation. This option is available so you can indicate within ShipStation that you purchased insurance for a shipment, and for what declared value. However, this option does not provide any additional access to file an insurance claim or enter the name of the insurer.
Total Shipping Protection Available in the New Layout Only
Total Shipping Protection by XCover is not available in the ShipStation Legacy Layout.
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 grayed out. You must add insurance to each package in the shipment individually.
