Missing Contents Courier Claim: How Sellers Can Claim Compensation

Who do I claim from? A booking decision tree

This is a sender and shipping-contract guide: you believe goods disappeared after handover and want to recover the loss. A parcel can arrive empty and still generate a contents/partial-loss investigation rather than a whole-parcel non-delivery claim. Confirm the provider’s classification; do not wait for a whole-loss period simply because goods are missing.

Need to investigate the buyer allegation first? Use the empty-parcel audit or the incomplete-order diagnostic. A confirmed packing omission is a fulfilment correction, not goods lost by the courier.

Contract-holder checklist

• Booking receipt, invoice and account/email used: who paid which provider for this exact label?
• Actual service name and variant, destination and booking/posting dates: which terms applied at purchase?
• Platform label, own account integration, broker booking or fulfilment contract: who can submit and receive payment?
• Selected or included cover, declared value, additional-cover receipt and any excess: what was actually bought?
• Contents eligibility and packaging rules: were the missing goods covered for the relevant kind of loss?
• Written notification, submission and evidence deadlines: what event starts each, and where is confirmation saved?

A shipping tool can connect to your own carrier account or resell carriage under its own contract. Click & Drop, an order-management dashboard or a marketplace integration is therefore not enough to identify the contract. Ask who holds the booking and who is authorised to claim.

Courier and intermediary comparison

Royal Mail’s retail policy permits sender or recipient claims but pays only one claimant; this does not establish recipient eligibility under every carrier or account contract. Coordinate any existing claim before submitting another.

For deeper direct-carrier context, use the Royal Mail Seller claim guide and Evri Seller claim guide. Their whole-loss sections do not turn a delivered contents shortage into a missing-parcel claim.

Verified notification periods — match the contract and trigger

Notify promptly rather than using the last day as a target. The table contains only periods tied to readable current official text. A notification, full claim and evidence request may have separate clocks. Save submission receipts and ask for clarification if the portal disagrees.

InPost app/site: the direct claim form lists different damage, disputed-delivery and whole-loss windows, but does not clearly assign missing contents a category and trigger. No missing-contents number is inferred here. Ask support immediately; use the third party if it supplied your label.

Parcelforce: the current non-account contract and account matrix need to be matched to the actual booking and claim classification. We could not securely establish one current missing-contents trigger across these arrangements. The old conditions-of-carriage URL redirects to the homepage, so a historic “30 days from dispatch” rule is not copied here. Notify now through the current claims entry and request the applicable deadline.

Build a missing-content evidence packet

The following records are commonly useful. The final column identifies specific published requirements or possible requests; it does not mean every provider asks for every document. Keep originals and copies, and name each file with the order, parcel and relevant date.

Ask the buyer to retain both external and internal packaging and remaining contents until the handler confirms they can be released. If inspection, salvage, return or repairs are proposed, get instructions before altering the evidence. If material has already been discarded, say so and ask what alternatives are accepted; never invent a photograph or receipt.

For a packing dispute, compare the actual requirement with the evidence. InPost’s app/site guidance requires suitable packaging within size and weight limits; InPost Direct’s separate guidance describes restraining and protecting the contents and securing the package. Show the relevant box/bag, internal restraint and seals rather than simply asserting “well packed”.

A useful recipient statement records tracking, receipt date, what arrived, what was missing, packaging condition and when the issue was noticed. Use the provider’s form if required. It is supporting evidence, not a substitute for the packing, handover and value trail. Share only the personal information necessary for the claim.

How missing-contents compensation is calculated

Start with the missing goods, not the full order. Keep the buyer remedy and your provider recovery in separate columns. Selected cover is a ceiling subject to the contract; declaring a high value does not by itself buy that level of cover or establish liability.

• Valuation: establish the applicable basis: purchase/cost price, manufacturing cost, repair cost or another contractual value. A retailer’s margin and the buyer’s refund are not automatically recoverable.
• Condition: age, wear, depreciation and any retained usable goods may affect actual loss. Do not claim new replacement value unless the contract permits it.
• Limit: compare the supported loss with the service cap and cover actually selected. Read any excess and whether additional cover applies to loss, damage or both; do not invent an excess where none is stated.
• Eligibility: prohibited and non-compensation items, restricted-goods conditions, inadequate packaging and exclusions can prevent or reduce payment. Extra cover does not cure every exclusion.
• Postage: show it separately and check whether that claim type reimburses it. Do not add a postage refund automatically.

Parcelforce’s claims guidance uses the lower cost/sale price for loss, damage and missing contents, with applicable limits and depreciation; it says damage claims do not refund postage. Its retail enhanced-cover page advertises £150 standard cover on express services but directs account customers to their own guides. The current non-account contract contains a £75 clause 11.3 limit, so do not assume the retail headline governs every online booking. Ask the handler which terms apply before relying on a ceiling.

For Royal Mail, retail part-loss policy values actual acquisition/manufacturing loss, with service limits, depreciation and qualifying postage provisions. Evri’s cover overview is subject to its terms and purchased protection; InPost Direct’s terms distinguish the current value and type of cover from a new-for-old promise. No guide can promise full sale-price reimbursement.

Claim wording template

Subject: Missing contents / partial loss — booking [reference], tracking [number]

I am [booking account holder / authorised claimant, with supporting authority]. I booked [service] with [provider] on [date]. The package was handed over on [date] and recorded delivered on [date]. The recipient reports [exact missing goods/quantity], while [remaining goods/packaging] arrived.

My evidence is indexed: [booking and cover], [packing and handover], [recipient photos/statement], [value records]. The supported missing-goods value is [amount and basis]; postage is shown separately. The cause remains [known facts / still under investigation].

Please register this notification, confirm the applicable claim category, contract, deadline and evidence requirements, and investigate any available weight, damage or repacking records. Please provide a claim reference and identify any further information needed.

Adapt the facts and do not assert authority you do not have. Send it through the provider’s supported route and save the acknowledgement. A draft, marketplace chat message or enquiry to the wrong carrier may not satisfy contractual notification.

After submission: evidence requests, rejection and later recovery

1. Save confirmation and track requests. Record submission time, reference and outstanding documents. Ask whether the notification and completed claim have both been accepted.
2. Respond under the same reference. Evri Terms 7.5 encourage return of the completed form within 14 days of it being sent; this does not replace the initial notification window. Read any actual evidence-request deadline.
3. Read a rejection by reason. Wrong contract holder, missed notification, unsupported value, excluded goods, packaging or disputed transit loss need different responses. Use the courier-claim-rejected guide to prepare a focused review request.
4. Ask for the calculation if underpaid. Identify which goods, value basis, cover limit, excess and postage were allowed. Supply missing evidence rather than simply repeating the sale total.
5. Report later recovery or another payment. If the buyer finds the goods, a replacement is returned or another handler reimburses the same loss, tell the claim handler. Ask how to close or adjust the claim and reconcile the marketplace record.

If internal review remains unresolved, follow the actual provider’s complaint instructions and check any external scheme’s service and claimant eligibility. Do not assume every carrier or business contract has the same ombudsman route. Keep separate marketplace and other claim deadlines in view throughout.