The figure you enter at booking is the ceiling on what you can ever recover — and, on some items, whether cover applies to it at all.
Declared value is the figure you give a shipment at booking, and it does one specific job: it caps what you could ever recover if something goes wrong. Enter too little and you've capped your own compensation before anything has happened. Enter a figure you can't substantiate and you've created a different problem, because Cargosender's claims process accepts only genuine proof of value — the original invoice, with VAT and amortization deducted.
It isn't the only ceiling, either. Statutory liability limits under CMR (road) and the Montreal Convention (air) apply on top of your declared value, and a separate set of insurance exclusions applies regardless of what figure you enter — see what additional cover does not cover for the specifics.
| Situation | What to use |
|---|---|
| Recently purchased, new item | The original invoice or receipt, with VAT and amortization deducted as the claims process requires. |
| Used or personal item | A fair current resale value, not the original retail price — see the guide on sending used items abroad. |
| Gift or item with no invoice | Harder to substantiate. Keep any record you do have (order confirmation, bank statement, photos) rather than none at all. |
Under-declaring to save on cover: compensation is capped at the figure you entered, so this converts an insurable loss into a self-funded one if the parcel is damaged or lost.
Over-declaring or misrepresenting value to inflate a potential claim: the claims process requires genuine proof of value, and misrepresentation on customs or shipping documents carries its own penalties — this isn't a way to buy more cover than you're entitled to.
Individual items valued over EUR 5,000 are not covered by additional insurance at all unless explicitly confirmed by the carrier or insurance company, and anything valued above EUR 2,000 must be reported to Cargosender in writing — a high declared value alone does not create cover.
No. Declared value sets the ceiling on what you could recover; additional cover is a separate purchase at booking, and it has its own exclusions that apply regardless of the value you declare.
Keep whatever record you can — an order confirmation, a bank statement, photographs. The claims process asks for genuine proof of value, and having something is materially better than having nothing if you ever need to substantiate a figure.
Treat it as final once you've booked. Cargosender's terms specifically rule out address changes after a label has been created; they don't separately address changing a declared value, so there's no stated process to rely on — get it right before you pay rather than assuming it can be corrected afterward.
No. Recovery is also capped by statutory liability limits under CMR (road) and the Montreal Convention (air), and certain categories are excluded from cover entirely regardless of declared value.
No — the booking form asks for a value on each individual parcel line, not one figure for the whole order, so give each box its own accurate value rather than lumping a combined estimate into just one line. What that means for compensation if only one box in the order is affected isn't spelled out in Cargosender's published terms in enough detail for this guide to state a specific rule — if that scenario applies to you, ask support directly before booking rather than assuming how it would be handled.
The declared value field only helps you if it's genuine and it's entered before the parcel ships.
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