Recovered Article If an article is recovered after the Postal Service has paid a claim for an insured, COD, Registered Mail, Priority Mail Express, or Priority Mail article that it thought was lost, then we handle the matter as follows: If the article is undamaged, the payee may reimburse the Postal Service and accept the article. If the article is damaged, depreciated, or is missing contents, the payee may reimburse the Postal Service in the amount set by the USPS Consumer Advocate.