Mikaela Zavasky Crist

With the online shopping boom, porch piracy is on the rise. Nearly 50 million Americans have fallen victim to package theft in the past year alone, resulting in an alarming 260 million stolen packages and an estimated annual loss of $19.5 billion.

In the world of ecommerce, there’s often a liability gap between delivery and the consumer retrieving the package, leading consumers to seek shipping insurance for peace of mind. But, not all “package protection” offerings are what they seem. A surge of online offerings – some unauthorized and posing as insurance – has inadvertently roped many merchants into fraud by offering them at checkout.

Legit options, like Route, exist and are backed by licensed insurance providers. However, a growing number of unauthorized providers use misleading labels like “shipping warranty” or “delivery guarantee” to bypass state insurance regulations. These offerings often lack proper oversight, leaving consumers vulnerable to potential scams. 

This issue has become so prominent that the Oklahoma Insurance Department issued an alert, signaling a nationwide need for attention. Route’s chief compliance officer also weighed in, detailing the problem for merchants in an op-ed originally published to Digital Insurance. 

The main takeaway: “Package protection” that you’ve spent good money on may not protect anything at all. Be a savvy shopper and choose legitimate shipping protection to safeguard your purchases.