USPS insurance: what it costs and what it covers

How much is USPS insurance: the current rates

USPS insurance is an extra service you add to a domestic package so USPS pays you back if the item is lost or damaged. The fee depends on one thing: the item's declared value. The fee table lists value bands only, so the weight of the box and the distance it travels do not change it.

The table shows the insurance fees for merchandise from USPS Notice 123, the official price list, effective July 12, 2026. Coverage tops out at $5,000 for standard insured mail.

Insurance pays only the actual value of mail contents, so declaring more than the item is worth raises the fee without raising what USPS will pay. For an item insured for more than $500, the recipient may be asked to show an acceptable primary ID, and USPS provides a signature as the delivery record. For those items you can also add Insurance Restricted Delivery for $8.80.

Does Priority Mail include insurance?

Priority Mail includes insurance. So do Priority Mail Express and USPS Ground Advantage. Each one includes coverage up to a fixed amount in the postage price, as long as the package has an applicable USPS Tracking barcode.

Two details change what you pay. First, the included amount does not stack with insurance you buy: on Priority Mail, it replaces the included insurance. So an item worth more than the included amount is insured for its whole value at the fee for that value band, not just for the part above the included amount.

Second, some services carry no included coverage. On Priority Mail that covers Priority Mail Open & Distribute and Premium Forwarding Service. On Priority Mail Express, when the signature is waived, additional insurance is not available.

USPS insurance cost for a $500 item, step by step

Example: a handmade ceramic lamp that sells for $500, shipped by Priority Mail to a buyer in another state. The sale price is the item's actual value, and you have the paid order to prove it.

1. Set the declared value

   Declare what the buyer paid for the item. Coverage pays the actual value of mail contents, so the sale price is the right figure.

2. Find the fee band

   The lamp falls in the $400.01 to $500 band, where the fee is $7.55. That is the USPS insurance cost for a $500 item, added to the postage.

3. Drop the included coverage from your thinking

   Priority Mail includes up to $100, but once you buy insurance, it replaces the included insurance. The fee above covers the full declared value.

4. Check the ID and signature rule

   The extra ID check and signature record apply only to items insured for more than $500. A lamp declared at exactly $500 stays below that line. One declared a cent higher moves into the next fee band, $9.05, and the ID rule.

5. Keep the paperwork

   Save the mailing receipt or label record and the paid order. These are the proof of insurance and the proof of value a claim would need.

Using a USPS insurance calculator

Use the USPS Price Calculator on USPS.com to price the postage. To estimate the insurance fee, add the amount from the fee table above, which you can read in two steps.

For a declared value in one of the first seven bands, find the band and read the fee. Above that, the fee is $9.05 plus $1.50 per $100.00 or fraction thereof over $600 in declared value. Every started $100 counts as a full one, so declaring a value just over a round hundred costs the same as declaring the next round hundred.

You can buy USPS insurance at a Post Office, Click-N-Ship or a USPS-approved PC Postage provider. Buy it in one place only: postal insurance may be purchased at only one source for each mailpiece.

What proof a USPS insurance claim needs

Either the sender or the recipient may file a claim, and USPS says each claim must include proof of insurance, value, and damage. USPS also says the fastest and easiest way to file your claim is online.

1. File inside the window

   For damage or missing contents, file no later than 60 days after the mailing date. For a lost package, wait until the claim window opens: Priority Mail claims are filed after 15 days and before 60 days from the mailing date, USPS Ground Advantage claims after 15 days and before 60 days, and Priority Mail Express claims after 7 days and before 60 days.

2. Show the package was insured

   Evidence of insurance is the original mailing receipt, the outer packaging with the insured label, or the printed online label record. Without it USPS may not legally pay compensation for uninsured lost or damaged articles.

3. Prove what the item was worth

   Proof of value can be a sales receipt, a paid invoice or bill of sale, a statement of value from a reputable dealer, a credit card billing statement, or a printout of the online transaction. For an online sale, that includes a printout of the online transaction identifying the purchaser and seller, price paid, date of transaction and description of the item.

4. Prove the damage

   Include photos that clearly show the extent of damage. Damage claims also need an estimate of the repair costs from a reputable dealer. Save the original packaging and everything in the package until your claim is settled. USPS may ask you to take the entire package to your local Post Office facility for inspection.

5. Wait for the decision

   USPS usually sends a decision within 5-10 days, and an approved claim is paid in 7-10 business days. If the claim is denied or paid in part, you can appeal within 30 days of receiving the decision.

What USPS insurance does not pay for

USPS lists the cases where it pays nothing on an insured package in section 609 of the Domestic Mail Manual. The ones most likely to affect a small seller are these.

• Your labor on handmade goods: Personal time used to make hobby, craft, or similar handmade items is not paid. A claim is paid on the item's value, and USPS does not pay a claim higher than an item’s actual value.
• Sentimental value: a Claim based solely on sentimental rather than actual value is not paid.
• Poor packing: Damage by abrasion, scarring, or scraping to articles not properly wrapped for protection is excluded, and so is damage where the Fragile nature of article prevented its safe carriage in the mail, regardless of packaging.
• Damage with an intact box: Damage caused by shock, transportation environment, or x-ray, without evidence of damage to the mailing container is excluded. This is why the outer box matters in a claim.
• Food and other perishables: Perishable contents frozen, melted, spoiled, or deteriorated is excluded.
• Late delivery: apart from narrow exceptions listed in section 609, loss resulting from delay of the mail is not paid.
• Losses after delivery: Loss, damage, or missing contents that occurred after delivery by the USPS is excluded.

At the counter, staff are required to ask whether an insured package contains anything liquid, fragile, perishable, flammable, or potentially hazardous. Answer accurately, because nonmailable, prohibited or restricted items not prepared and mailed according to postal standards are also on the nonpayable list.

When extra insurance is worth buying

For most low-priced orders, the coverage included with Priority Mail and Ground Advantage already covers the item, so buying more adds cost and no protection. Extra insurance starts to matter once an item is worth more than $100, and more so for one-of-a-kind or fragile pieces you cannot remake quickly.

Whatever you choose, pack well, photograph the item and the packed box before sealing it, and keep the label record and the paid order together. Those are the records a claim asks for. This page is general information about USPS rules, not legal advice, and fees change with each USPS price update, so check Notice 123 before you rely on a number.

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Questions about USPS insurance