Does shipping insurance cover live animals?
Did you know USPS allows you to ship live animals?Most people don’t know that you can use USPS to ship animals like live one-day-old chicks, as well as live bees (as long as you use the proper service and take a lot of Time to pack it all up). UPS also allows you to ship live animals and plants (with some pretty strict restrictions, though). However, just because these carriers allow you to ship live animals doesn’t mean their built-in shipping insurance will cover you should you need to make an insurance claim.
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Primary carrier does not insure live animal shipments
This is where it can get a little tricky. Major carriers like USPS and UPS offer built-in guarantees at certain points in time when you purchase labels from them. For example, all Priority Mail Services offer $50 insurance at the post office, or $100 if you buy the label with the shipping software. UPS labels cover carrier liability up to $100. However, live animals are not covered by most shipping insurances, including the built-in protections offered by USPS and UPS. This is because, from a general point of view, Shipping lines put live animals in the same category as perishables. So while your label is technically Do These shipments are insured, and carriers like USPS and UPS may deny your claim if any animals die in transit or the package is lost.
Example from the UPS website
If you need an example, here’s a direct quote from the UPS website on how to ship plants and animals:
“Any package containing live animals shall be considered a perishable commodity and will be at the shipper’s own risk for any damage or loss resulting from the perishable nature of the item. UPS shall not be liable for any special, incidental, or consequential damages. “
Third-party insurance companies also do not cover live animals
Unfortunately, buying insurance from a third-party provider is not the solution to protecting your live animal shipment either. Like USPS and UPS, third-party insurers classify live animals in the same category as perishable items. No insurance company covers perishable items, because goods usually spoil (or in the case of live animals, they rot) if they sit too long in transit due to unforeseen circumstances. Because of this, you’ll often see these companies explicitly exclude live animals and perishable items in their terms and conditions. A common example of a third-party insurance provider that excludes live animals from coverage is Shipsurance.
So… what should I do?
Since you cannot protect your live animal shipment with insurance, your best bet is to pay extra for guaranteed expedited service. This way, you can keep the transit time of your goods as short as possible. When shipping with USPS, the fastest service you can pay for is Priority Mail Express, or “PME”. In fact, USPS requires you to use Priority Mail Express first when sending birds and bees! PME features overnight delivery to most urban areas in the US and delivery to most rural destinations within 2 days. The fastest UPS service is Next Day Air, which offers overnight delivery no matter where in the United States you are shipping.
