Your Parcel Damage Claim Was Rejected — What to Do Next

The letter arrives three weeks later and runs to two sentences. The claim has been assessed as unfounded because the shipment was not adequately packed. No photograph, no assessor’s report, no explanation of what exactly was wrong with the packing. Just a sentence and a reference number.

Most senders stop there. Carriers count on it, because a rejection costs them less than a payout and a second letter almost never comes. Yet that particular sentence about inadequate packing rests on thinner ground than it appears.

The three grounds you will see most often

Rejection letters repeat themselves, and they boil down to three claims:

• “The shipment was not adequately packed.” The most common ground and the most open to challenge. More on it below, because the convention attaches conditions the carrier frequently cannot satisfy.
• ”The damage was not reported in time.” A hard procedural ground. If the consignment was signed for without reservation and the complaint arrived a week later, the position is difficult. Deadlines are in the table further down.
• ”The value of the contents was not substantiated.” This does not deny the claim itself, only its size. Without an invoice or receipt the carrier pays its own estimate, which tends to be markedly lower.

What matters is that these are the carrier’s assertions, not a court’s findings. A claims department is not an independent body. It is a unit of the same company that would have to pay, and it behaves accordingly.

Inadequate packing: why the defence often fails

Under Article 17 of the CMR Convention the carrier is liable for total or partial loss of the goods and for damage occurring between the time it takes over the goods and the time of delivery. The convention then lists the special risks that relieve it of that liability, and packing is one of them.

The wording is narrower than most rejection letters imply. Article 17(4)(b) covers the absence or defective condition of packing in the case of goods which, by their nature, are liable to wastage or damage when not packed or not properly packed. It is not a general licence to blame the sender. It applies to goods whose own nature makes packing critical, and the carrier must still show that the damage actually arose from that risk.

Two questions follow, and they are worth putting in writing:

• Which characteristic of the goods brought them within Article 17(4)(b)?
• On what evidence does the carrier connect the packing to the damage actually sustained?

This changes the character of the exchange. A letter saying “I disagree” is one party’s word against another’s and gets filed. A letter asking the carrier to identify the provision it relies on, and the evidence behind it, has to be answered or abandoned. Note too that if the carrier accepted the consignment without entering reservations about the packing in the consignment note, that silence is itself worth raising.

One caveat, so this does not read better than it is. It is not a universal key. Send stemware in a padded envelope and the dispute will be lost on the merits however sound the procedure. What counts as adequate packing is set out in the guide on how to pack a parcel.

Reservations: the deadline that decides most claims

Article 30 draws the line that quietly settles the majority of rejected claims. If the consignee takes delivery without checking the condition of the goods with the carrier and without entering reservations, the goods are presumed to have been received in the condition described in the consignment note.

The timing depends on whether the damage is visible:

• Apparent damage: reservations must be made at the latest at the time of delivery. Once the driver has gone, that opportunity is gone with them.
• Non-apparent damage: reservations must reach the carrier within seven days of delivery, not counting Sundays and public holidays.

The presumption is rebuttable, but rebutting it is far harder than spending two minutes at the door. Open the box while the driver waits, and if anything is wrong, record it on the delivery document before signing.

How much the carrier actually owes

Compensation under the CMR regime is calculated on the value of the goods at the place and time of acceptance for carriage, and it is then capped. Article 23 limits it to 8.33 SDR per kilogram of gross weight short.

SDR stands for Special Drawing Right, the IMF unit of account, converted at the rate applying on the relevant date. In practice the cap is calculated on weight, not on value, which produces an uncomfortable result: a light, expensive item is badly protected by it. Two kilograms of camera lenses worth several thousand euros attract a cap in the region of twenty euros.

There are two ways out, and both must be arranged at booking rather than after the event: declaring the value of the goods, or declaring a special interest in delivery. Both carry a surcharge, and both raise the ceiling above the default. How the limits work in practice is covered in the guide on parcel insurance and compensation.

Deadlines worth putting in a calendar

Step	Deadline
Reservation for apparent damage	At the time of delivery
Reservation for non-apparent damage	7 days from delivery, excluding Sundays and public holidays
Limitation period, ordinary case	1 year from delivery
Limitation period, wilful misconduct	3 years
Total loss, start of limitation	30 days after the agreed delivery date

A written claim suspends the limitation period until the carrier rejects it in writing and returns the documents. That is one practical reason to keep every exchange on paper or email rather than on the phone.

Writing an appeal that changes something

An emotive letter about how disappointed you are will pass through a claims department without trace. What works is a structure that is awkward to dismiss:

1. Identify the consignment. Tracking number, date of collection, date of delivery, claim reference. In the first paragraph.
2. Quote their own stated ground verbatim, so it is clear what is being contested.
3. Cite the provision. Article 17(4)(b) for the packing defence, Article 30 for reservations, Article 23 for the cap, and ask which one the decision rests on.
4. Attach the evidence. Photographs of the packing and the contents, the delivery document with the reservation, proof of value.
5. State a figure. An amount and bank details, not a request to reconsider.
6. Set a date and name the next step. Saying where the matter goes next is information, not a threat.

Send it by a route that produces proof of despatch. A phone call carries no evidential weight, including the one where the agent agreed with you.

Where the claim goes if the carrier holds firm

If the appeal fails, the route depends on who is claiming and against whom. Businesses are generally left with litigation or arbitration under the terms of carriage. Consumers in the European Union have a cheaper intermediate step first: the national alternative dispute resolution body for transport or postal services, reached through the European Commission’s consumer redress network.

Two practical points. Insurers of the goods, if the cargo was separately insured, will usually pursue the carrier by subrogation and are better resourced to do it. And where several carriers performed the carriage successively, the claim can be brought against the first carrier, the last one, or the one performing the leg on which the damage occurred, which sometimes gives a better counterparty than the broker who sold the service. The mechanics of filing are set out step by step in the guide on how to file a parcel claim.

Making the next claim unnecessary

Most rejected claims are lost at the point of despatch rather than in the decision letter. Four habits turn a dispute into paperwork:

• Photograph the packing process. Contents, packing, sealed box. Three images, ten seconds, and the packing question is answered in advance.
• Never sign clean for a damaged outer box. A reservation entered on the delivery document is the strongest evidence available, and it exists only in those few seconds at the door.
• Declare the value where the cap would bite. On light, high-value goods the default 8.33 SDR per kilogram is not meaningful cover.
• Keep the packaging until the claim closes. Carriers are entitled to inspect it and will close the file without it.

Then there is the choice of carrier itself. Claims culture varies between operators more than most senders expect, and on consignments where value genuinely matters the difference barely shows up in the shipping price. Service parameters are compared in the Advisor.

A rejection is not a verdict. It is an opening position from a counterparty that knows most people never ask for a second one.

Quick facts

Your Parcel Damage Claim Was Rejected — What to Do Next

schedule Updated 26/08/2026

Summary

Carriers reject damage claims most often on the grounds of "inadequate packing". Under Article 17(4)(b) of the CMR Convention that defence applies to goods which by their nature are liable to be damaged when not properly packed, and the carrier bears the burden of proving the causal link. Article 30 sets the reservation deadlines: apparent damage must be noted at the time of delivery, non-apparent damage within seven days of delivery, excluding Sundays and public holidays. Compensation for loss is capped by Article 23 at 8.33 SDR per kilogram of gross weight short unless a higher value was declared and paid for. Article 32 gives a limitation period of one year from delivery, extended to three years in cases of wilful misconduct.

Most common rejection ground

Inadequate or defective packing

Apparent damage

Reservation required at the time of delivery (Art. 30)

Non-apparent damage

Within 7 days of delivery, excluding Sundays and public holidays

Standard liability cap

8.33 SDR per kg of gross weight short (Art. 23)

Limitation period

1 year from delivery, 3 years for wilful misconduct (Art. 32)

How to exceed the cap

Declared value or special interest, agreed and paid at booking