Effective September 6, 2011, the Postal Service™ will revise the Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®) 503.4 to increase the insurance indemnity available at an Automated Postal Center® (APC®) from $500 to $5,000.
Currently, a customer who mails at a USPS® retail window can purchase insurance coverage to $5,000; however, an APC at that same retail location is limited to $500 indemnity. This revision will raise the indemnity limit at APCs so that it matches what is currently available at all Post Office™ retail windows.
Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM)
* * * * *
500 Additional Mailing Services
503 Extra Services
* * * * *
4.0 Insured Mail
* * * * *
4.2 Basic Information
4.2.1 Description
[Revise the introductory text of 4.2.1 as follows:]
The following standards apply to insured mail service:
[Revise the text of items 4.2.1a and b as follows:]
a. Insured mail purchased at a retail Post Office location, including an Automated Postal Center (APC), or online through Click-N-Ship provides up to $5,000 indemnity coverage for articles that are lost, damaged, or have missing contents, subject to the standards for the service and payment of the applicable fees. In order to be eligible for insurance indemnity, a mailpiece must have received at least one USPS processing scan or the customer must provide proof of insurance (see 609.3.1). Customers are encouraged to deposit such mailpieces with a USPS retail associate.
b. Insured mail purchased on eBay provides up to $500 indemnity coverage for articles that are lost, damaged, or have missing contents, subject to the standards for the service and payment of the applicable fees.
* * * * *
[Revise item 4.2.1e as follows:]
e. Insurance may be purchased at only one source for each mailpiece; combining postal insurance from multiple sources is not permitted.
* * * * *
We will incorporate these revisions into the next monthly update of the online DMM, which is available via Postal Explorer® at http://pe.usps.com.
— Product Classification,
Pricing, 8-11-11
