UPS Insurance

How much does UPS insurance cost in 2026?

Without a declared value: £60 a shipment

The UPS terms of carriage limit liability to the greater of £60 per shipment for goods handed over in the United Kingdom, or 8.33 special drawing rights per kilogram, with the applicable convention limit taking over on international air and road legs. On a 1 kg parcel that is about £60, on a 20 kg pallet closer to £169.

With a declared value: about 1%, minimum £11.50

Declaring a value costs roughly 1% of the amount declared, with a minimum charge of about £11.50 per package. Below £1,150 you therefore pay the minimum whatever the goods are worth, which makes small valuable parcels the worst case: a £300 parcel costs £11.50 to declare, close to 4% of its value.

Declared value is a liability limit, not a policy

This is the distinction that decides most disputes. Paying for a declared value raises the maximum UPS can be asked to pay, but you still have to show that UPS caused the loss or the damage, and the exclusions in the terms still apply. An insurance policy works the other way round: the insurer pays the declared value on proof of the loss, whoever handled the parcel.

Where the declared value stops

A prohibited article that travels anyway is not covered by the declared value you paid for, so the fee buys nothing on the very goods that most need protecting.

UPS claim deadlines: 14 days and 60 days

Claims must be notified in writing as soon as reasonably practicable, and in any event within 14 days of receipt for damage, including partial loss, or within 60 days of the goods being handed to UPS for a full loss. Keep the packaging for inspection on damage files, and keep the invoice: the settlement is built on the value you can evidence, within the ceiling that applies.

Worked example: two watches

A £400 watch is capped at about £375 by the UPS terms, so £25 of it is uninsurable whatever you pay. A £4,000 watch is capped at the same figure, leaving more than 90% of the value exposed, and the declared value fee is charged all the same. With Secursus the £4,000 watch costs £40 to insure, which is 1% of the declared value, and is paid in full on a delivery made against signature, within 3 days of the file being validated.

UPS insurance compared with Secursus

When the UPS option is the right one

Above £1,150 the UPS rate is the same 1% as a specialist policy, so on ordinary manufactured goods that UPS accepts without restriction, declaring the value at the point of booking is simple and effective. Below that threshold the minimum charge makes it expensive, and on valuables the £375 cap and the prohibited list decide the outcome long before the price does.

Compare other UK carriers

Percentage pricing is not the norm across the UK market. FedEx insurance also charges by declared value but caps unique items at about £750, DHL insurance charges £12 for the first £800 then 1.5%, Royal Mail insurance sells tiers up to £2,500, Parcelforce insurance steps at £7 to £65, DPD insurance keeps a £100 liability, Evri insurance stops at £999, Yodel insurance at £500 an item and GLS insurance pays by the kilo. To compare the ceilings on your own parcel, compare parcel shipping solutions.