PS Form 6710: Filing a Communication Accommodation Request

To file a USPS domestic insurance claim, submit it through the online claims portal at usps.com or mail in a completed PS Form 1000, along with your tracking number, proof that the item was insured, proof of its value, and evidence of the loss or damage.¹ Either the sender or the recipient can file. To request a paper form, call 1-800-332-0317 and select option 9.

Whether Your Shipment Qualifies

A domestic indemnity claim only works if the shipment carried insurance, either included in the service or bought as an add-on. Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, and USPS Ground Advantage each include up to $100 of coverage in the base price.² If the item was worth more than that, additional insurance had to be purchased at the time of mailing to recover the full value.

Registered Mail and Collect on Delivery (COD) shipments also qualify. Registered Mail coverage depends on the declared value and the fee paid at mailing. COD service includes insurance against loss or damage as part of the COD fee. If you sent something by Media Mail or First-Class Mail without buying extra insurance, USPS has no authority to pay a claim.³

Filing Deadlines by Service

Every claim type has a window. File too early and the system rejects it because delivery may still be in progress; file too late and the right is gone. For damaged packages or missing contents, file as soon as you find the problem, and no later than 60 days from the mailing date.¹ For lost packages, the earliest and latest dates depend on the service used:

Priority Mail Express: 7 to 60 days after the mailing date
Priority Mail Express COD: 15 to 60 days
Registered Mail and Registered COD: 15 to 60 days
Insured Mail, including insured Priority Mail: 15 to 60 days
COD: 15 to 60 days
APO/FPO Priority Mail Express Military Service: 21 to 180 days
APO/FPO/DPO Insured or Registered Mail: 45 days to 1 year
APO/FPO/DPO Insured Mail (surface only): 75 days to 1 year

The minimum waiting periods exist because USPS needs time to confirm a package is genuinely lost rather than delayed. Missing the maximum deadline ends the claim; there are no extensions.¹

What to Gather Before You Start

Pull everything together before opening the claim form. An incomplete submission is the fastest way to get denied. You need three categories of proof: that the shipment was insured, what the item was worth, and that a loss or damage happened.

Proof of Insurance

The tracking or label number, which runs 13 to 34 characters, ties the claim to a specific shipment.⁴ Keep evidence that insurance was actually purchased. That can be the original mailing receipt (with a USPS postmark for Registered Mail), the outer packaging showing the insured-mail label, or a printout of the online shipping label record showing the insurance fee and declared value.¹

Proof of Value

USPS needs to see what the item was worth when mailed. Any of the following works:⁴

Sales receipt or paid invoice
Credit card billing statement
Online transaction printout showing the buyer, seller, price, date, item description, and completed status — this is how you prove value for items sold on eBay, Mercari, and similar platforms
Statement of value or repair estimate from a reputable dealer
Reconstruction costs for non-negotiable documents

If you sold a $300 item through an online marketplace, print the full transaction page before filing. A screenshot that cuts off the price or the completed status will slow the review.

Proof of Damage

For damaged items or missing contents, take clear photos of both the outer packaging and the contents. If the item can be fixed, get a written cost estimate from a reputable dealer or repair service.⁴ Keep every piece of the original packaging: the box, the packing material, the tape. USPS may ask you to bring the entire package to your local Post Office for a physical inspection, and if the packaging has been thrown out, the claim will be denied.¹

Filing Online

USPS prefers online submission, and it moves faster. Go to usps.com/help/claims.htm and click “Start an Online Claim.” A free USPS.com account is required.⁴ The form asks for the tracking number, the mailing date, the claim amount, a description of what happened, and whether you’re the sender or the recipient.

Upload proof of value as a PDF or JPEG during the process.¹ The system lets you save and return if you can’t finish in one sitting. Once submitted, the claim shows up in your account’s Claim History, and you can opt in to email notifications instead of checking manually.

Filing by Mail With PS Form 1000

To file on paper, call 1-800-332-0317 and select option 9 to have PS Form 1000 mailed to you.¹ Fill it out with the same information the online form asks for: tracking number, mailing date, claim amount, description of the loss or damage, and your contact details. Mail the original completed form with your proof of value to the address printed on the form. If the shipment had multiple extra services, include original receipts for all of them.

One tradeoff with paper: no online dashboard. Decisions and correspondence arrive by mail, and any appeal has to be handled the same way.

What USPS Will Not Pay For

Insurance doesn’t cover everything. The following situations are excluded from reimbursement:³

Perishable items that spoiled. You can insure perishables, but a spoilage claim won’t be paid.
Consequential losses and delays. USPS pays for the item, not lost profits, missed deadlines, or downstream costs.
Fragile items that can’t survive normal handling. If nothing could have protected the item in the mail stream, coverage doesn’t apply.
Inadequate packaging. Damage caused by poor packing rather than rough handling is denied.
Gift cards, lottery tickets, and contest entries. Specifically excluded.
Checks, including cashier’s checks. These can only be insured for the cost of reconstructing the document, not face value.
Unsolicited merchandise sent to someone who didn’t order it.
Mail without complete names and addresses for both sender and recipient.

The packaging exclusion catches people the most. If USPS inspects the box and finds the contents weren’t packed for normal postal handling, the claim is denied regardless of what the insurance slip says.

What Happens Next

USPS typically issues a decision within 5 to 10 days.⁴ More complicated cases take longer, especially when a physical inspection at your local Post Office is requested. If approved, you’ll receive payment for the documented value up to the limit of the insurance purchased, plus any applicable postage fees.

If USPS asks for more information or wants to inspect the package, respond promptly. Ignoring the request will lead to a denial.

Appealing a Denied Claim

A denial can be challenged. You have 30 days from the date of the original decision to file a first-level appeal.¹ Online filers log into USPS.com, open the claim in Claim History, and click “Submit an Appeal.” Paper filers send a written appeal to:³

Domestic Claims Appeals
Accounting Services
US Postal Service
PO Box 80141
St. Louis, MO 63180-0141

Explain why the decision should be reconsidered and add any stronger documentation: better proof of value, clearer photos, a more detailed repair estimate. If the first appeal is denied, you have one more level: a final appeal to the Consumer Advocate, again within 30 days of the second denial. Online filers can submit through the portal. Paper filers send to:³

Consumer Advocate
Domestic Claims Appeals
475 L’Enfant Plaza SW
Washington, DC 20260-2200

The Consumer Advocate’s decision is final. There is no further USPS-internal remedy after that.

Penalties for a False Claim

Filing a fraudulent postal indemnity claim is a federal crime. Under 18 U.S.C. § 288, anyone who submits a claim knowing it to be false, or who uses fabricated documents to support one, faces a fine and up to one year in prison. If the fraudulent amount is under $1,000, the penalty is limited to a fine.⁵ The statute covers inflating the value of contents, claiming damage that didn’t happen, and misrepresenting any material fact on the form. USPS investigators do follow up on suspicious patterns, particularly repeat filers with high-value claims.

1
United States Postal Service. Domestic Mail Manual 609 – Filing Indemnity Claims for Loss or Damage
2
USPS. Shipping Insurance and Delivery Services
3
USPS. Domestic Claims – The Basics
4
USPS. File a USPS Claim – Domestic
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 288 – False Claims for Postal Losses