Shipping insurance vs declared value: what UPS, FedEx and USPS actually cover

Declared value and shipping insurance are not the same thing. Declared value raises the most a carrier will pay if it loses or damages a package, and it pays only when the carrier is responsible and you can prove the loss. Shipping insurance is a policy from an insurer that pays on the loss itself, whether or not the carrier was at fault. UPS and FedEx include $100 of declared value on every package at no charge; above that, UPS charges $5.10 to declare up to $300, and FedEx $4.95. FedEx’s Service Guide puts it plainly: “We do not provide insurance coverage of any kind.”

Declared value vs shipping insurance

	Declared value	Shipping insurance
What it is	A higher limit on the carrier’s liability	An insurance policy
Bought from	The carrier, on the label	An insurer or broker, or a carrier-affiliated agency such as UPS Capital
Pays when	The carrier is responsible for the loss or damage	The goods are lost or damaged in a way the policy covers, whoever caused it
Proof needed	Carrier fault, proper packing, and the goods’ value	The loss and the goods’ value
What it pays	FedEx: the lowest of repair cost, depreciated value or replacement cost, up to the declared value	Usually the invoice or replacement value, as the policy defines it
Theft after a proper delivery	Generally not covered	Covered by some policies, subject to their terms
Price	Published per-$100 rates, negotiable in a carrier agreement	Quoted by the insurer, often per $100 of value or as a blanket policy

Sources: FedEx Service Guide 2026, Declared value and limits of liability; FedEx, Declared value page; 2026 UPS Rate and Service Guide. Compiled by ebb Logistics.

What each carrier includes at no charge

UPS. UPS’s liability for loss or damage is limited to $100 per domestic package without a declaration of value. It can be raised to $50,000 per package, or $70,000 for certain domestic UPS Next Day Air packages under the enhanced maximum.

FedEx. FedEx’s liability is limited to $100 per package unless a higher value is declared and paid for. The maximum declared value is $50,000 per package for FedEx Express services, FedEx Ground and FedEx Home Delivery, and $500 for the contents of a FedEx Envelope or Pak.

USPS. Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail and USPS Ground Advantage include $100 of insurance against loss, damage or missing contents, at retail and commercial prices. Insurance can be bought up to $5,000. Parcel Select includes none. Unlike UPS and FedEx, this is insurance in USPS’s own terms, sold as an extra service under the Domestic Mail Manual.

Economy services can carry their own limits. Ground Saver at UPS and Ground Economy at FedEx are governed by their own service terms, so check those before relying on the figures above for an economy shipment. Our guides to UPS Ground Saver and FedEx Ground Economy cover how those services work.

What declared value costs in 2026

Carrier	Up to $100	$100.01 to $300	Over $300	Maximum per package
UPS, Declared Value for Carriage	No charge	$5.10	$1.70 per $100 of the total value declared	$50,000; $70,000 enhanced
FedEx, Declared Value	No charge	$4.95	$1.65 per $100 of declared value	$50,000
USPS, insurance	Included with Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail and Ground Advantage	$4.50 to $200, $4.55 to $300	$6.05 to $400, $7.55 to $500, $9.05 to $600, then $1.50 per $100	$5,000

Sources: 2026 UPS Rate and Service Guide, Declared Value for Carriage; FedEx Service Guide 2026, Declared Value; USPS Notice 123, effective October 4, 2026, insurance for merchandise. Commercial account holders may have negotiated rates.

Both carriers charge on the whole declared value once it passes $300, not only on the amount above $300. UPS counts every $100 including the first, and gives its own example: a $950 declaration costs $17.00, ten increments at $1.70. FedEx’s fee table charges “$1.65 per $100 of declared value for shipments valued in excess of $300”.

FedEx adds one protection at no extra cost: packages with a declared value of $500 or more automatically get Direct Signature Required, and the signature fee does not apply to them. UPS requires a high-value shipment summary signed by the driver for packages over $1,000 tendered to a driver.

Value declared	UPS	FedEx	USPS insurance
$250	$5.10	$4.95	$4.55
$500	$8.50	$8.25	$7.55
$1,000	$17.00	$16.50	$15.05
$2,500	$42.50	$41.25	$37.55

Published 2026 rates, before any negotiated discount. UPS and FedEx: per package. USPS: Notice 123 insurance fee for the coverage amount. Calculated by ebb Logistics.

At a few hundred dollars a package the fee looks small. It adds up quickly on volume: a business declaring $500 on 2,000 UPS packages a month pays $17,000 a month, or $204,000 a year, at published rates.

What declared value does not cover

The limits matter more than the price. Declared value pays only for loss or damage the carrier is responsible for, and the carrier decides the claim. Under FedEx’s terms the shipper must prove actual damages, the shipment must have been properly packed, and FedEx pays no more than the lowest of the repair cost, the depreciated value or the replacement cost.

• Theft after a proper delivery. A package left at the right address and then stolen is generally not the carrier’s loss under declared value. That is different from a package marked delivered but taken to the wrong address, or never delivered: carriers investigate those and accept claims subject to their terms. UPS Package Shield, below, adds protection when UPS fails to obtain a signature.
• Packing. A claim can be denied if the carrier judges the packaging inadequate.
• Lower caps on some goods. FedEx limits declared value to $1,000 for artwork, antiques, glassware, jewelry, furs, precious metals, collectibles, musical instruments over 20 years old, plasma screens and several other categories. FedEx runs a separate high-value program for qualifying jewelry shippers.
• Consequential losses. Lost sales, delays and the cost of reshipping are not part of a declared value claim.
• Deadlines. FedEx requires concealed damage to be reported no later than 60 days after delivery. Keep the carton and packing until the claim is closed.

UPS Package Shield

UPS Package Shield is an enhanced form of declared value for eligible shipments processed through ups.com shipping, WorldShip and other UPS Ready systems, or by written agreement. UPS’s 2026 Rate and Service Guide prices it at $1.70 per $100 of the total value declared; confirm the current pricing and eligibility for your account before relying on it. It adds two protections that standard declared value lacks:

• Porch protection: UPS is responsible if it fails to obtain a signature at delivery and the package is stolen before the receiver takes possession.
• Invoice value: UPS uses the invoice amount, rather than replacement or actual cost, to set its maximum liability.

It is still declared value, not insurance: it raises what UPS pays when UPS is responsible.

Shipping insurance

A shipping insurance policy is bought from an insurer, through a broker or agency, and pays on the loss under the policy’s terms rather than on carrier fault. Policies are written per package, per shipment or as a blanket policy across all shipments, and can cover goods on any carrier. UPS’s own insurance offering, InsureShield, is sold by UPS Capital Insurance Agency, a separate company from the carrier, and covers loss, damage and porch piracy across carriers and modes.

Because the insurer, not the carrier, decides the claim, insurance may cover situations where declared value does not, such as theft after delivery, damage the carrier disputes, and goods the carrier caps at $1,000, subject to the policy’s eligibility rules, exclusions, deductibles and documentation requirements. Premiums are quoted by the insurer and depend on the goods, the claim history and the volume, so compare a quote against your declared value spend rather than against a published rate.

Is shipping insurance worth it?

For most shippers the answer comes from four numbers: the value per package, the share of packages lost or damaged, the share of those claims the carrier pays, and the cost of cover.

1. Below $100 a package, the carrier’s included $100 already covers carrier-caused losses. Paying for more only helps with what declared value excludes.
2. Above $100, compare the declared value fees across your volume with an insurance quote for the same packages. Blanket policies often cost less once a business declares value on hundreds of packages a month.
3. If your losses are mostly theft after delivery or disputed damage, declared value will not pay them, whatever it costs. An insurance policy, or Package Shield for UPS shipments, may cover them, subject to its terms.
4. For a handful of high-value packages, declared value is usually simplest, as long as the goods are not in a category the carrier caps.

Many businesses self-insure low-value packages, absorbing the occasional loss, and insure or declare only above a set value. That rule is cheap to apply in shipping software and keeps the fee off packages that do not need it.

Declared value is negotiable

Declared value fees are set in the carrier agreement like any other accessorial. A shipper who declares value on a meaningful share of packages can negotiate a lower minimum, a lower rate per $100 or a higher included value, and the saving shows up on every package. It is one of the terms we price in a parcel contract negotiation, and our parcel audit checks that the agreed rate is the one billed. When a loss does happen, our claims filing service handles the claim with the documentation the carrier requires.

Freight is different

LTL freight carriers limit liability by weight, not by a flat $100. Under 49 U.S.C. 14706, the Carmack Amendment, a motor carrier is liable for actual loss or injury to the property, but may limit liability to a value declared by the shipper or agreed in writing. FedEx Freight, for example, limits liability on new goods to the invoice cost, up to $25 per pound per package or $100,000 per incident, and on used goods to 50 cents per pound. It sells excess coverage noted on the bill of lading, up to $50 per pound in total for new goods, at 3% of the excess with a $147 minimum, and states that the excess coverage is not insurance. Our guide to FOB terms and the bill of lading explains who bears the risk of freight in transit and who pursues the claim.

Frequently asked questions

Is declared value the same as insurance?

No. Declared value raises the carrier’s liability limit, and pays only when the carrier is responsible and the shipper proves the loss. Insurance is a policy from an insurer that pays on the loss under its own terms. FedEx states that it does not provide insurance coverage of any kind.

Does UPS insure packages?

UPS includes $100 of declared value per package and sells more, up to $50,000. That is a liability limit, not insurance. UPS’s affiliate UPS Capital Insurance Agency sells insurance separately, under the name InsureShield.

How much does FedEx declared value cost?

In 2026, $4.95 for a declared value of $100.01 to $300. Above $300, $1.65 per $100 of the whole declared value, so a $1,000 declaration costs $16.50. The first $100 is included when no value is declared. The maximum is $50,000 per package for Express, Ground and Home Delivery.

How much does UPS declared value cost?

In 2026, $5.10 for $100.01 to $300, then $1.70 per $100 of the total value declared, including the first $100. A $950 declaration costs $17.00.

What does the $100 liability limit mean?

It is the most the carrier will pay for a lost or damaged package when no higher value was declared, and only when the carrier is responsible. A $600 item shipped without a declaration recovers at most $100.

Does declared value cover stolen packages?

Generally not when the package was properly delivered and then stolen. A package marked delivered but not received is a different case, which carriers investigate and may pay under their terms. UPS Package Shield adds porch protection when UPS fails to obtain a signature at delivery, and some insurance policies cover theft after delivery, subject to their terms.

How much does USPS insurance cost?

Under Notice 123, effective October 4, 2026, $4.50 for coverage to $200, $7.55 to $500 and $9.05 to $600, then $1.50 per $100 up to $5,000. Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail and Ground Advantage already include $100.

Can declared value fees be negotiated?

Yes. They are an accessorial in the UPS or FedEx agreement, and the minimum, the rate per $100 and the included value can all be negotiated, which matters for any business that declares value on a large share of its packages.

Sources

• UPS, 2026 UPS Rate and Service Guide, Daily Rates, updated January 26, 2026: Declared Value for Carriage, UPS Package Shield, Maximum Declared Values, and InsureShield through UPS Capital Insurance Agency.
• FedEx, Service Guide 2026: Declared Value fee, and Declared value and limits of liability (not insurance coverage). FedEx, Declared value.
• USPS, Notice 123, Price List, effective October 4, 2026, and Domestic Mail Manual 503.4, Insured Mail.
• FedEx Freight, 100-Y Rules Tariff, Item 420, Carrier Liability. 49 U.S.C. 14706.