[78-L] Filing USPS insurance claim-Good news-Bad news

[Benno Häupl]

.
dl, 
how can you be the contractual partner of the insurance company if you have not signed for it? 
The seller did. You may possibly receive a package and you don't even know if it is insured or not. 

Let's assume I send you a package, and you agree to get it uninsured. I send it insured nonetheless. 
If it were you who is the contractual partner of the insurance company, how is it that you don't even 
know that you have an insurance contract and committed yourself to some obligations from this contract? 
If I as the seller sign for insurance, it's me who knows that I have rights and obligations from such 
contract.   

On the other hand, it's the seller who is your contractual partner (you being the buyer). He is the one 
you have to file your claim with. 

You cannot acquire property of an object until you have it physically in hands. During that transit time, 
USPS has 'temporary ownership', because they have physical control over the package, but they are 
not the proprietor. 

The rights that you have between the time of purchase and the moment of gaining physical control of 
your property, is that you can insist on fulfilment - possibly including rights to be compensated for any 
prejudice.  

The buyer has no control of packing, shipping etc. until he physically receives the parcel. Therefore he has 
no responsibility for safe delivery. It's the seller who has contracted USPS, and  USPS acts on behalf of the seller. 

All mail and parcel post is delivered 'DAP'. That's the Incoterm for 'Delivered At Place'. Incoterms are 
generally used for commodities that are shipped by containerloads or shiploads. You may have heard of 
FOB (Free On Board), EXW (Ex Works), FAS (Free Alongside Ship). Well, mail and parcels are legally 
DAP (Delivered At Place). These terms and conditions have been standardized by the International 
Chamber of Commerce, and the Postal Organizations on the globe agreed to treat all mail DAP (Delivered 
At Place).  When you use USPS or any other common carrier, you always agree to 'DAP'. 

All this is exactly the reason why eBay and PayPal implementedyou their 'Buyer Protection' for items not 
received or items damaged in transit ('Significantly Not As Described'). The buyer gets full refund because 
it's the seller's records who got damaged.  

Benno