A domestic USPS claim is submitted online at usps.com, and it turns on two attachments: something showing the package carried coverage, and something showing what the contents were worth. Damage and missing-contents cases can be filed the day the box lands, while a lost-package case waits for day 15 on Priority Mail and USPS Ground Advantage, day 7 on Priority Mail Express, with every type closing 60 days after the mailing date.
Coverage evidence and value evidence do most of the work on a postal claim.
USPS publishes an earliest day and a latest day for each class, and a form submitted a day early is rejected as readily as one submitted a week late. The figures below are copied from the USPS claims help page and the filing schedule in the Domestic Mail Manual.
| Service | Case type | Earliest filing | Latest filing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Priority Mail Express | Lost article | Day 7 | Day 60 from mailing |
| Priority Mail | Lost article | Day 15 | Day 60 from mailing |
| USPS Ground Advantage | Lost article | Day 15 | Day 60 from mailing |
| Insured Mail | Lost article | Day 15 | Day 60 from mailing |
| Registered Mail | Lost article | Day 15 | Day 60 from mailing |
| Any covered class | Damage or missing contents | Right away | Day 60 from mailing |
Read the right-hand column twice. Day 60 counts from the date the piece was mailed, not from the date you noticed a problem, so a buyer who tells you about a crushed box in week nine has left almost no runway. Damage cases carry no waiting period at all, which makes speed the only sensible policy.
DMM 609 splits the evidence into two buckets and names what it will take in each. Anything outside those lists is a conversation rather than a document.
All eight bullets are quoted from DMM 609 sections 3.1 and 3.2 at pe.usps.com, checked 2026-07-28. Postal staff can only weigh the paper in front of them, so scan the receipt before the box ships rather than hunting for it under deadline.
Every figure and quoted phrase in this section comes from usps.com/help/claims.htm, checked 2026-07-28. USPS decides claims on its own rules, and no outcome can be promised by us or by anyone else.
Most sellers send a second box long before a decision arrives, so here is what that second box actually prices at. We ran a 12 by 10 by 6 in carton at 5 lb through the SMKlog calculator on 2026-07-28. The price column is the whole amount charged at checkout for that row.
| Carrier | Service | Price | Transit window returned |
|---|---|---|---|
| USPS | Ground Advantage | $14.02 | 8-9 business days |
| UPS | Ground Saver | $14.02 | No window returned |
| UPS | Ground | $14.55 | 2-3 business days |
| UPS | 3 Day Select | $19.94 | 2-3 business days |
| UPS | 2nd Day Air | $21.96 | 2-3 business days |
Two rows landed on the identical figure with wildly different promises attached, which is the sort of thing only a live quote surfaces. Rates move week to week, so treat the table as a snapshot of that Tuesday rather than a price list.
USPS lists "evidence of insurance coverage not provided" among the reasons a claim cannot be paid, per DMM 609 section 4.3. Ground Advantage, Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express each carry $100 of included coverage on the base label, per usps.com checked 2026-07-27, and our declared value page lays out the fee bands above that line.
Scans go quiet on ground services routinely, and filing early on a piece that is simply slow burns the paperwork you will want later. Our stuck-in-transit guide puts real quoted windows against the day count so you can tell waiting from missing.
If the label came from SMKlog, our support page can pull the order and the label record for you. Do it inside the 60 days; nobody can reopen a window the Postal Service has closed.
Sign in at usps.com, open the domestic claims form, and attach two things: evidence the package carried coverage, such as the printed electronic online label record, and evidence of value, such as a sales receipt or a printout of the online transaction showing buyer, seller and price paid. Both lists come from DMM 609 sections 3.1 and 3.2 at pe.usps.com, checked 2026-07-28.
It depends on the case. A lost Priority Mail Express article can be claimed from day 7, Priority Mail and USPS Ground Advantage from day 15, and damage or missing contents right away. Every domestic type closes 60 days after the mailing date, per usps.com/help/claims.htm, checked 2026-07-28.
USPS states that it usually sends claims decisions within 5 to 10 days, and that payment on an approved claim arrives in 7 to 10 business days. Those are the Postal Service's own figures from its claims help page, checked 2026-07-28, and they describe the usual case rather than a promise.
USPS allows an appeal within 30 days of receiving the decision, filed the same way the original claim went in, and it asks for new documentation to support the appeal. Resubmitting the same file without anything added is the reason most appeals go nowhere.