Multiple merchants report significant issues with Shipsurance denying legitimate claims for lost or damaged shipments. The primary complaint involves claims being rejected because items were shipped in manufacturer’s original packaging—even when those same boxes successfully arrived to the merchants from suppliers without incident.
Common Problems:
Claims denied for using original manufacturer boxes, despite no indication of contents
Prolonged processing times (3+ months in some cases)
Repeated requests for additional documentation and photos
Claims closed citing “lack of response” while merchants await Shipsurance’s replies
Generic, unclear communication from representatives
Specific Examples:
One merchant had an expensive item denied entirely, with Shipsurance refusing even wholesale cost reimbursement
Another case was denied after 4+ months of back-and-forth, despite providing all requested documentation
One successful claim took 3 weeks and extensive effort, but was labeled a “one-time exception” with warnings about future packaging requirements
Merchant Concerns:
Questions about legality of these denials
Consideration of BBB complaints and legal action
Frustration with Shopify’s partnership with Shipsurance
Note that Shipsurance may be rebranding as “Parcel Guard”
No resolution has been reached; merchants seek alternatives to Shipsurance.
Summarized with AI on October 29.
AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
As a retailer the majority of the items shipped will bear the company’s name. Had a very expensive item shipped and lost in transit. After multiple calls, emails to Shipsurance, they have decided to deny the claim because it was in the manufacturer’s original box. How is it possible that this item arrived at my location thru UPS with no issues, but once shipped to the customer, it became an issue with Shipsurance? They took the money for the coverage, but refuses to pay for the item. They won’t even pay for the wholesale cost.
Can someone please let me know if this is even legal? We are so unhappy with this company and it may cause us to cancel our Shopify account. I may have to file a grievance with the better business bureau.
I’m having a heck of a time with them as well. For at least 4 months we’ve been dealing with a claim. They continually asked us for more photos, we’d upload more photos, and then they would tell us that we didn’t submit the information they needed. We had given them everything they asked for from early on, so when I asked for clarification about what they needed that they didn’t already have, they copied and pasted a generic response about needing photos of the box. They already had a dozen clear photos of the box along with ~50 emails back and forth.
After getting the runaround from them, I pressed them for more information and by the time they responded, the case had expired, and they cited “lack of response or interest” on my part. I immediately emailed them pointing out that I was awaiting their response, not the other way around. We continued going back and forth on the case since then (about 2 months ago) and they are generally unresponsive.
I’ve been in business for 15 years and have had to deal with many claims in that time. This is the most painful of all of them.
Yup, they just denied my claim. Absolute nonsense. Here was the email:
“We have received and processed the claim referenced above. The claim will be closed due to the following violation(s) of the coverage
certificate:
The claim has been closed. The outer shipping carton was either the manufacturer’s packaging or it alluded to the contents.”
So it can make it to me in that box from the other side of the world without issue, but when I ship it to my customer in my country in the same box, it’s suddenly not good enough? What a scam. Shipsurance is absolute garbage. They were clearly dragging their feet on this for months in order to come up with an excuse to deny the claim.
Is there anyway to avoid shipsurance when shipping through shopify, we are no longer interested to deal with this unprofessional company, who seems to accuse their clients of that they are filing fraudulent claims. It is ridiculous that shopify is keeping them deal with the shipping insurance, we are ready to file a legal action if shipsurance continue doing what they are doing.
First, Shipsurance DID pay my claim. However, it took a lot of time (3 weeks) and effort on my part. I provided all the requested info needed to file the claim but as soon as I did, they asked for something new or additional. My customer needed to provide an affidavit that he didn’t receive the goods even though UPS tracking was clear it was lost. They wanted an invoice, then wanted a more detailed invoice. Next was photos, then photos on all four sides, then close-up photos on all four sides. The correspondence with representatives are not in real time and calls are not returned. Many of the correspondences seem to be canned responses and are vague/unclear. While the claim was paid, they were clear in telling me it was a one-time exception since the box showed dimensions and weight. There was absolutely nothing to indicate the contents yet this writing nearly prevented Shipsurance from honoring the claim. In no uncertain terms they stated future shipments must have a different box or the printed dimensions and weight must be obscured.
Make sure you read the Shipsurance Terms & Conditions.
Mentally prepare yourself for a substantial time commitment if a claim needs to be filed.
They go out of their way to make the process absolutely brutal and painful with crazy rules and timing in the hopes you give up and don’t get paid. We have a claim they are denying because UPS never scanned in our box at their depot. How is that my fault? T he box left here, we have the tracking number, we have the customer claiming they never got our original, they have the paperwork of us sending it again, we’ve never had a false or suspicious claim in the past. It was the middle of xmas when most shipping issues occur…
