I am going to send a rather expensive custom sword off for a scabbard soon, and I wanted to know about others experience in the area of buying insurance and getting claims paid. Quite a few people have posted about damage by UPS to swords - my questions are:

How many of you had insured the sword, and was it "worth it". Specifically -

Has anyone insured a sword and had it lost or damaged in shipment?
If so, was it easy to get the claim paid?

Has anyone who has shipped a sword that was lost or damaged NOT had insurance and either got paid anyway, or had trouble getting paid for damage?

Thanks people!

Gordon

I insure everything that I ship. Fortunately, I've never had to file a claim. We've all heard horror stories about carriers refusing to pay insurance claims. The fact is, however, that insurance doesn't cost that much. It's a mere fraction of the value of the item, and if you can't afford to insure you probably can't afford a sword to begin with. Cover all your bases and insure. Anyone who doesn't is a fool.

I have to agree with Patrick on that one. Insurance costs pennies on the dollar and there's one certain way to make sure that the carrier doesn't pay up on an insurance claim: don't buy any!!! I would also suggest if you want to make very sure that the insurance claim will be paid that you have on of those mailboxes etc. type places do the packing (at least the final packing I'd suggest initially wrapping the sword/boxing the sword yourself) that way they can't weasel out by saying the packing was inadequate.

I alway buy the insurance. Does not cost that much and I've never had to use it but I'd rather have the option if needed and I'm not doing much volume anyway.

I have never shipped a sword, but I ship quite a bit through UPS and Fedex at my work. I have had to file claims, and there are a few things that you might want to be aware of. The cost for insurance is very low- the first $100 is free and then it is $.35/ $100 or fraction there of of value. If you do have to file a claim, you must provide an original invoice showing purchase date and value paid for the item being shipped. They pay back the claim based on how much you paid for the item, not the replacement cost, so keep that in mind as well. Also the first thing that the will ask if you call to file a claim is if you packed the package according to UPS guidelines, which I believe the major guideline is that you are supposed to have the item being packed surrounded by at least 2" of packaging, so make sure that you pack the sword very well. Do not discard the packaging if you have damage, as they may send a claims adjuster to take photographs and verify the damage. Also, I know that Fedex takes off 10% of the value you paid for the item for every year after the first year of purchase due to depreciation, I am not certain if UPS does though. One last thing is be patient, they will usually eventually pay you back if they determine the damage is legitimate, but you will have a few forms to fill out and it will take quite a while to be reimbursed. I have waited as long as 6 months to get through the process. Oh, and if you do file a claim be sure to get a claim reference # and a direct phone # so you can call back and check on the claim if you need to . Hope all of this help.
James

In my case with the damage to my Regent, FedEx inspector determined that since there was no EXTERNAL damage to the guncase, then the damage to the sword was not due to negligence on their part. Certainly not a satisfying outcome, but it never would have even been investigated without the insurance...