USPS remains married to its insurance claims deadlines

A sad tale of a Rockville, Indiana, woman whose engagement ring got lost in the mail and who alleges she filled out the wrong insurance claim with the U.S. Postal Service uncovered this startling statistic: Of the 842,973 insurance claims filed for lost packages in 2022, only 38% were paid by USPS, according to WRTV in Indianapolis.

In a story she told the news station, which she hoped could help her, Janet Risler spent $19.65 to insure her $1,255 wedding ring’s journey to Missouri for a repair that a local jeweler couldn’t perform. When the ring got lost in the mail, Ms. Ridler went to the post office and filled out the wrong form, she told the news station. When presented with the correct form, after months of emails, the deadline to file a claim had passed, she said, “frustrated” by the ordeal.

A USPS spokesperson told the television station that “(a)ccording to insurance claims regulations, the claim must be filed within 15-60 days, or the customer is not eligible for a refund. Please refer your viewers to our website.”

There’s little recourse, the news station found, especially after discovering via a Freedom of Information Act request that most claims go unpaid.