Sixty calendar days from the ship date is the entire runway for a damaged FedEx shipment, and the packaging has to outlive the case. FedEx tells filers to keep the original packaging and contents until the claim is resolved, and it may ask for an inspection report with photographic documentation of the shipment condition and the damage.
Packaging thrown out early is evidence nobody can put back.
FedEx does not send someone to every damaged box. It publishes a band where the filer documents the damage instead, which changes what your photographs have to accomplish.
All quoted material per fedex.com/en-us/customer-support/claims.html, checked 2026-07-28.
FedEx names one document that covers both outcomes, and reading it closely tells you what to obtain before filing.
| Situation | Document FedEx names | What it needs to show |
|---|---|---|
| Article can be repaired | An itemized repair invoice | Line-item costs, not a single lump figure |
| Article cannot be repaired | A statement of non-repair | A trade opinion that the item is beyond economic repair |
| Article has no ordinary invoice | Appraisals or expense statements | Useful for one-off, antique or made-to-order goods |
| Ordinary retail or resale goods | Proof-of-value information | The original vendor invoice, retail receipt or order confirmation |
A statement of non-repair is worth requesting early, because repair shops schedule assessments and a 60-day window has no slack in it. Getting the opinion in writing while the item is still boxed also keeps the packaging story intact.
Carriers assess damage against how the article was prepared, so the guidance FedEx publishes for shippers doubles as a defence when a claim goes in. Its own words, from the FedEx packing pages checked 2026-07-28:
Photograph the cushioning before you seal a valuable shipment. A picture showing three inches of fill on every face, taken at the bench, is a far better answer to a packing question than a description written six weeks later.
Three inches of cushioning on six sides makes a box bigger and heavier, which is a real cost worth seeing. We quoted a 14 by 12 by 8 in carton at 8 lb through the SMKlog calculator on 2026-07-28.
| Carrier | Service | Price | Window at quote |
|---|---|---|---|
| FedEx | Ground Economy | $15.64 | 6-7 business days |
| UPS | Ground Saver | $15.71 | No window returned |
| USPS | Ground Advantage | $15.73 | 8-9 business days |
| UPS | Ground | $20.02 | 2-3 business days |
| UPS | 3 Day Select | $22.23 | 5-6 business days |
Nine cents separated the three cheapest rows on this box, so the choice was effectively free and came down to the window. When a first shipment already arrived broken, spending the difference on fewer days in the network is usually the better trade.
For anything genuinely breakable, an inner carton inside an outer carton with fill between them beats any amount of tape. Our fragile shipping guide covers the method and where it stops being worth the volumetric cost.
Buyers often sit on a damaged item for weeks before mentioning it. Ask customers to report damage within a few days of delivery and say why, because the carrier deadline is the one that cannot be extended.
A claim cannot pay more than the declared value the shipment carried. Optional shipping protection at our checkout is capped at $500 of declared item value during the pilot and excludes poorly packed shipments, so it rewards the same habits the carrier does.
No later than 60 calendar days from the shipment date on US shipments, per fedex.com checked 2026-07-28. There is no waiting period, so the sensible move is to file as soon as the damage is documented rather than to gather everything first.
It can, and it may request an inspection report with photographic documentation of the shipment condition and the damage. Self-inspections are permitted for US parcel shipments with declared value greater than $100 and less than $1,000, which puts the documentation duty on the filer inside that band.
No. FedEx instructs filers to keep the original packaging and contents until the claim is resolved. Photographs are the record, but the physical carton and its fill are what an inspection would look at, and discarding them early undermines the case.
FedEx names a statement of non-repair alongside the itemized repair invoice among the materials it uses in claims investigations. Ask the repair trade for that opinion in writing, since it substitutes for the repair costing when nothing can be fixed.