Wednesday 19 June 2013

A Guide to Courier Services: protecting your parcel against loss and damage

Who hasn't felt nervous about placing their goods in someone else's hands when shipping overseas? Whether you are shipping your belongings abroad in advance of a house move, delivering goods to a customer, or sending a gift to an overseas relative, your cargo is precious and your top priority will be to ensure it arrives not only in a timely manner but in exactly the condition you sent it. There are several steps you can take to do your best to ensure that this happens.

1. Choose a courier service you can trust

When you are shipping overseas, you need a service you can trust.  Using a company with long-standing experience, a well-established brand and a good global network is important. Transglobal Express works only with the top four global courier services: DHL, UPS, and FedEx and TNT: shipping with us means you'll get exactly same delivery service as if you were booking directly through these carriers- the only difference is the price!

2. Package your parcel appropriately

The best way to protect your parcel against damage is to ensure it is packaged appropriately. This means choosing the right size and strength of box and cushioning your goods sufficiently inside it. Most carriers advise that your box should be able to withstand a drop from waist height- this should give you an idea of the amount of cushioning you need. We recommend at least 5 cm between each item within the box and between the edges of the box and its contents. 

TOP TIP: take a photograph of your parcel, inside and out, before it is collected. This won't take you long at all and in the unfortunate event of loss or damage, it will be much easier for you to process any claims with evidence such as this. 

3. Take out appropriate cover

All parcels shipped with Transglobal Express are covered for a minimum of £50, free of charge. If your parcel is much more valuable, you may wish to take out additional cover for extra peace-of-mind. Then, if anything goes wrong, you won't be out of pocket. Certain very fragile goods - such as glass and pottery cannot be covered, so if you need to send these, make sure you follow step 2 as best you can! For more information about what can be covered, please see our website or contact our claims team on 0845 145 1212.

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