Nonnegotiable documents (e.g., title instruments such as an air waybill, legal notice, crossed check, or other such instrument that may not be transferred from the holder or named party to another individual or entity) sent by Priority Mail Express service are insured against loss, damage, or missing contents while in transit, but coverage is limited to $100 per piece (the unit on which postage is paid), subject to a maximum dollar limit per occurrence as noted in item c(2) below.
Nonnegotiable documents include audit and business records, medical records, transcripts, and other similar documents that have no immediate cash value.
Note: Articles that are considered merchandise (rather than nonnegotiable documents) may be eligible for compensation as merchandise, but are not eligible for compensation under this section. Articles considered merchandise include artwork, collector or antique items, books, pamphlets, readers’ proofs, repro proofs, separation negatives, engineering drawings, blueprints, circulars, advertisements, film, negatives, and photographs. Legal documents (e.g., notices, pleadings, bond instruments, etc.) are not merchandise.
When submitting a claim for document reconstruction insurance, you must support the claim with a statement of expense incurred in reconstruction.
The following issues pertain to claims for nonnegotiable documents sent by Priority Mail Express service:
- Indemnity for document reconstruction is paid as follows:
- For reasonable costs incurred in the reconstruction of the exact duplicate of a lost or damaged nonnegotiable document.
- For reasonable reconstruction expenses incurred or obligated between the time of guaranteed or scheduled delivery and actual delivery.
- For a loss sustained by the use of funds to maintain cash balances during the period of document reconstruction (based on the applicable Federal Reserve discount price). The period begins at the scheduled delivery time and may not exceed 15 days.
- Indemnity is not paid for the following issues:
- For the cost of preparing the document mailed or for the mailer’s time in preparing the document mailed or reconstructed.
- If copies of the lost documents are available or, with the exception of the per-page copying cost, if copies could have been made before mailing.
- For catastrophic losses of multiple Priority Mail Express items, such as from a major fire, indemnity is limited to $5,000, regardless of the number of Priority Mail Express items, or the identity or number of customers involved, as follows:
- Each claim resulting from a catastrophic loss is first adjudicated individually.
- If the preliminary adjudication exceeds $5,000, the percentage of the sum represented by each individual settlement is applied to the $5,000 to determine each claimant’s pro rata share of the final settlement, not to exceed $100 per piece.
