Website representations

Clarify what an insured-shipping promise actually means

The buyer-facing promise is the commitment your published wording makes about an affected order. Establish it by reading that wording alongside the actual coverage document and your approved buyer-resolution procedure. Identify who can submit a claim, which conditions are expressly documented, and who answers the buyer. An insurance claim, a parcel search and a merchant resolution are separate records; the existence of one does not establish the outcome of another. If the promise goes beyond the records, assign the gap for clarification before repeating it.

For: An owner or policy manager of a research-only store that advertises insured shipping.

Updated 2026-10-01

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Read the promise where the buyer encounters it

Collect the exact insurance wording on the shipping page, product page, checkout and any merchant-controlled banner or FAQ that repeats it. Record the page and date. Read the sentence with its surrounding conditions: a short badge may communicate a broader promise than the policy to which it links.

Identify what the wording actually commits the business to do. Does it only describe coverage attached to a shipping service, or also state what the merchant will do for a buyer whose parcel is lost or damaged? Do not supply a refund, replacement, amount or response time that the text does not state. Silence about the buyer’s next step is a gap to resolve, not evidence that the buyer has no remedy.

The FTC’s truth-in-advertising guidance calls for truthful, nonmisleading and substantiated advertising across media, including websites. Use that principle to ask what supports each public statement. It does not decide whether your particular wording or insurance arrangement meets applicable legal requirements.

Tie the coverage statement to the document that governs it

Locate the genuine coverage document for the shipping arrangement you use. Record its issuer, version or effective date, and the service or arrangement it describes. Compare those bounds with the orders covered by the public promise. A document for a different service or period does not substantiate the statement merely because it mentions insurance.

Extract only express terms relevant to the promise: the named claimant, covered event, stated limit and known exclusion, where each appears. If a term is absent or its application to your goods is unclear, record the exact question for the carrier or coverage provider. Do not infer that research-only goods are covered, excluded or entitled to a particular payment.

Also distinguish a document describing available coverage from your record that the applicable arrangement was actually used. The worksheet should point to those records in your authorized systems. It should not contain customer addresses, private tracking links or full coverage account details.

Give the buyer-resolution procedure its own owner

USPS’s missing-mail guidance separates tracking, a missing-mail search, postage-refund requests and insurance claims. USPS also says a search may not recover an item. That is a useful documented reason to keep those processes distinct; it does not supply the terms of another carrier’s coverage or determine what you owe a buyer.

Write down who receives the buyer’s report, who decides the merchant’s response under its approved policy, and who handles any coverage claim. They may be the same person, but they are different responsibilities. A claim reference establishes that a case exists only to the extent the carrier record confirms it. It does not establish that a buyer refund or replacement has been approved.

Compare any public instruction to wait for the carrier with the buyer-resolution procedure the merchant has approved. If those records disagree, preserve both and obtain a decision from the policy owner. Do not introduce a carrier-payment condition into customer communications simply because a claim is still open. Questions about entitlement or legal obligations need the relevant qualified advice.

Resolve the wording gap before the next publication

Classify the comparison as supported within the documented scope, conflicting, or unresolved. For a conflict, identify the exact public sentence and the document or procedure that differs. For an unresolved term, name the missing record and the person responsible for obtaining it. A narrower proposed statement still needs approval from the merchant’s policy owner before publication.

Keep a dated record of the wording that existed before a change. Revised copy alone does not answer what was communicated on an earlier order. Once the approved wording changes, check the other surfaces that repeat the insurance promise so that checkout, policy and support instructions say the same thing.

For a PRISM website-review consultation, bring the public URLs and a non-sensitive summary of the mismatch. Catalog claims, policies and disclosures can be considered together within an agreed scope. Confirm the pages, deliverables and responsibilities before work begins; an informational review is not insurance advice, a coverage decision or certification.

Shipping-insurance promise

Complete one copy for each materially different shipping-insurance promise. Enter document references and comparison results, not customer records. A missing term stays unresolved; a supported match only covers the scope you actually compared.

Worksheet entries are not submitted by Prism’s worksheet and are not saved by the site. Use record types, availability, anonymized observations, or match/mismatch results. Do not enter government identifiers, customer names or addresses, customer messages, receipt-access links, card or bank details, passwords, or keys. Send sensitive documents only through the provider’s verified secure channel.

Shipping-insurance promise. The last column is for temporary notes.
Comparison itemEvidence to inspectDecision the evidence supportsYour record
Published promiseExact wording and dated URL from the policy, checkout, banner and FAQ.Identify the stated buyer outcome and any conflict between surfaces.
Coverage documentIssuer, document version, applicable service and record of the arrangement used.Determine whether the document addresses the shipping offer being advertised; do not infer coverage.
ClaimantThe clause identifying who may submit a claim and the authorized operational contact.Assign claim handling only where the terms establish who may act.
Known exclusion or limitExact clause reference for each relevant stated exclusion, event or limit.Compare the advertised breadth with the written term; mark unclear applicability for confirmation.
Buyer resolution ownerApproved customer-response procedure and the role authorized to decide the merchant response.Separate the buyer decision from claim submission and any carrier payment.
Unresolved promise and release decisionThe conflicting sentence, missing evidence and policy owner’s written decision.Record what needs clarification and which approved wording must change across the site.

These are temporary notes. Leaving or reloading this page may clear them. Worksheet entries are not sent automatically. If you copy notes into the consultation message and submit the form, Prism receives them as part of your request.

Limits

  • Coverage terms, claimant eligibility, exclusions and claim outcomes depend on the actual arrangement; no entitlement is determined here.
  • USPS process distinctions apply to USPS. They do not supply another carrier’s terms or resolve the merchant’s buyer obligations.
  • Keep private order records and coverage account details out of the worksheet and public consultation form.

Related guides

Sources

  • FTC truth in advertising — checked 2026-09-28. Advertising across media, including websites, must be truthful, nonmisleading and substantiated. This supports comparing an insurance promise with evidence, not declaring particular wording lawful.
  • Prism features — checked 2026-09-21. PRISM reviews catalog descriptions, claims, policies and disclosures together within an agreed scope. Findings are informational, not a legal opinion or certification.
  • USPS missing mail — checked 2026-09-21. USPS distinguishes tracking, missing-mail searches, postage refunds and insurance claims, and says an item may not be found. The guidance does not determine this merchant’s coverage or buyer resolution.

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