> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.vortexiq.ai/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Open Claims, Deutsche Post > Open Claims for Deutsche Post stores. Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre. How to read it, why it matters, and how to act on it. **Metrics type:** [Key Metrics](/nerve-centre/overview#metrics-types-explained) • **Category:** [Exceptions & Claims](/nerve-centre/connectors#connectors-by-type) ## At a glance > Live count of open Deutsche Post / DHL claims and search investigations (Nachforschungsauftrag for lost or damaged parcels, plus loss / damage compensation claims) that have not yet been resolved or paid. This is the money-recovery and aged-case dial. Each open claim is either compensation the merchant is owed for a lost or damaged parcel, or a customer waiting on a resolution. The alert fires when any claim has sat **unresolved for more than 7 days**, because aged claims are the ones that get forgotten, breach DHL's own response window, and turn into a refunded order the merchant never recovers from the carrier. | | | | ------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **What it counts** | `COUNT(claims WHERE status NOT IN (resolved, paid, rejected, withdrawn))` as a real-time figure. Grounded in `detail`: Open Claims for the selected period. Each claim is a distinct DHL case reference, not a parcel: one damaged consignment is one claim. | | **Claim types** | DHL Nachforschungsauftrag (search investigation for a parcel that has not arrived), loss claims (Verlust), and damage claims (Beschädigung / Transportschaden). The card groups all open cases regardless of type. | | **Data source** | Claim and investigation status sourced from the DHL business-portal claim records and the tracking event stream that triggers an investigation (no-scan-past-aim, `damaged_in_transit`, `lost_in_transit`). The card tracks the case from creation to its terminal state. | | **Time window** | `RT` (real-time). This is a current-state count, not a period total: it reflects what is open right now. | | **Alert trigger** | `>0 unresolved >7d` (any claim open longer than 7 days). The trigger is age-based, not volume-based: one stale claim fires it. | | **Currency** | Count of cases. Open monetary exposure is on [Claim Value (open)](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/deutsche-post/claim-value). | | **Roles** | owner, operations | ## Calculation Calculated automatically from your Deutsche Post data. See the At a glance summary above for what the metric tracks and the worked example below for a typical reading. ## Worked example Same Cologne-based DTC skincare brand, around 3,900 outbound DHL parcels per week. Reading taken at 09:00 CEST on 14 Apr 26. The claim pipeline is a real-time snapshot, not a trailing window. | Claim type | Open cases | Of which open >7 days | Notes | | ------------------------------------------- | ---------- | --------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ | | Nachforschungsauftrag (search, no delivery) | 9 | 3 | 3 parcels with no scan past aim, awaiting DHL search outcome | | Verlust (loss compensation) | 4 | 2 | searches concluded "not found", compensation pending | | Beschädigung (damage) | 5 | 1 | customer-reported breakage, photos submitted | | **All open (this card)** | **18** | **6** | | The card reads **18** open claims, and the alert is **tripped**: 6 cases are older than 7 days. Five things to notice: 1. **The alert is about age, not volume.** 18 open claims for a 3,900-parcel-week merchant is unremarkable. The signal is that 6 of them have aged past a week. Aged claims are the ones a busy CS team loses track of, and the ones most likely to breach DHL's own handling window and lapse. 2. **Loss claims have a hard clock.** DHL's compensation process for a lost domestic DHL Paket runs through a Nachforschungsauftrag first; only once the search concludes "not found" does a Verlust claim pay out, typically up to the product's liability cap unless additional cover (höhere Versicherung) was booked. The 2 aged loss cases here are recoverable money sitting idle: chase them. 3. **Each open claim usually has a refunded customer behind it.** The brand has almost certainly already refunded or reshipped the 9 search cases to keep the customer happy. The claim is how it recovers that cost from DHL. An open claim that lapses is a refund the merchant eats. 4. **Damage claims need fast evidence.** Beschädigung claims depend on photos and, often, retention of the damaged packaging. The 1 aged damage case risks rejection if the evidence window closes. Resolve damage claims first because they decay fastest. 5. **Watch the conversion from late to claim.** The [Late Shipments](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/deutsche-post/late-shipments) card showed 167 late this week; at a 10 to 25 percent escalation rate, expect a fresh wave of search investigations to land here over the next fortnight. Staff the claim queue ahead of the wave, not behind it. ## Sibling cards merchants should reference together Open claims is the recovery-and-aged-case dial. Pair it with these to manage the funnel: | Card | Why pair it with Open Claims | What the combination tells you | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | [Claim Value (open)](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/deutsche-post/claim-value) | The monetary exposure behind the case count. | 18 open claims worth EUR 90 each is a rounding error; 18 worth EUR 600 each is real money. Always read count and value together. | | [Late Shipments](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/deutsche-post/late-shipments) | The upstream funnel: late and lost parcels feed claims. | A late-count spike predicts a claim-count rise at 1 to 2 weeks lag. | | [Failed Deliveries](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/deutsche-post/failed-deliveries) | The could-not-deliver tail that becomes search investigations. | Failed deliveries that never recover convert into Nachforschungsauftrag and then loss claims. | | [Returned to Sender](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/deutsche-post/returned-to-sender) | The alternative outcome to a claim. | A parcel either comes back (RTS) or stays missing (claim). Read together to account for every non-delivered parcel. | | [Exception Rate](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/deutsche-post/exception-rate) | The leading indicator. | A rising exception rate predicts more searches and damage claims downstream. | | [On-Time Delivery Rate](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/deutsche-post/on-time-delivery-rate) | Network health context. | A falling OTD and a rising open-claim count together confirm a genuine carrier problem rather than isolated incidents. | ## Reconciling against the source **Where to look in DHL's own tooling:** The authoritative record is the **DHL Geschäftskundenportal** (Business Customer Portal) → **Nachforschung / Reklamation** (search / claims) area, which lists every open Nachforschungsauftrag and compensation claim with its current status and case reference. The public DHL Sendungsverfolgung shows the parcel-level event history that triggered the case. For compensation policy and liability caps, the DHL Paket terms (AGB) and the account contract are the reference. The closest like-for-like view is *all open cases, status not closed, outbound only*. **Why our number may legitimately differ from DHL's portal:** | Reason | Direction | Why | | --------------------------------- | ---------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | **Status-sync latency** | Ours can lag | When DHL marks a claim resolved or paid in the portal, the card reflects it on the next sync. A case closed minutes ago may still read as open here briefly. | | **Timezone (CET / CEST vs UTC)** | Age boundary off | DHL records case timestamps in carrier-local time; the card computes the ">7 days" age in UTC. A case created late evening CET can cross the 7-day threshold a few hours apart from the portal. | | **Case grouping** | Either | If a merchant raises one claim covering several parcels, the portal may show one case while the card's parcel-level triggers expected several. Confirm whether claims are filed per-parcel or batched. | | **Manual vs auto-detected cases** | Ours can lag | A claim filed directly in the portal (not triggered by a tracking event) appears once the portal sync picks it up; a card-detected search trigger may predate the formal case. | | **Rejected / withdrawn handling** | Either | A claim DHL rejects leaves the open count here, but the merchant may still consider it open pending appeal. Align on what "open" means. | **Cross-connector reconciliation:** | Card | Expected relationship | Causes of legitimate divergence | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | [`shopify.refund_rate`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/shopify/refund-rate) | Downstream: most claims sit behind a refunded or reshipped order. | A refund can happen without a claim (customer goodwill); a claim can be filed without a refund. The two overlap, they are not equal. | | [`shopify.unfulfilled_orders`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/shopify/unfulfilled-orders) | Weak upstream link. | Unfulfilled orders rarely become claims directly; the path runs through despatch then late then lost. | ***
Documentation cross-reference (for agencies running multiple carriers) Open-claim counts exist with conceptually similar definitions across other carriers, but each carrier has its own claim process and liability rules. These are independent case queues, not parallel measurements. * [`royal_mail.rm_open_claims`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/royal-mail/open-claims) (UK carrier peer) * [`postnord.pn_open_claims`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/postnord/open-claims) (Nordic carrier peer)
## Known limitations / merchant FAQs **Why does the alert fire on a single old claim when my total is low?** By design. The trigger is age-based (`>0 unresolved >7d`), not volume-based. A small but ageing claim queue is the failure mode this card guards against: claims that get forgotten, breach DHL's handling window, and lapse into refunds the merchant never recovers. One stale case is enough to warrant a look. **What is the difference between a Nachforschungsauftrag and a loss claim?** A Nachforschungsauftrag is a search investigation: you tell DHL a parcel has not arrived and DHL tries to locate it. A loss claim (Verlust) is the compensation request once the search concludes the parcel is gone. The card counts both as open until they reach a terminal state. Operationally, a parcel almost always passes through a search before it becomes a paid loss claim. **How much can I recover, and is it worth chasing small claims?** DHL's standard liability on a domestic DHL Paket is capped per parcel unless you booked additional cover (höhere Versicherung). For low-value orders the cap may be below your retail price, so the recoverable amount is the carrier's liability, not your full refund. Read this card with [Claim Value (open)](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/deutsche-post/claim-value) to decide where to spend effort: chase the high-value aged cases first. **Why might my portal show a claim resolved that this card still shows open?** Status-sync latency. When DHL closes a case in the Geschäftskundenportal, the card reflects it on the next sync rather than instantly. If a case you just closed still reads open, give it a sync cycle before treating it as a real discrepancy. **Do damage claims work differently from loss claims?** Yes, and they decay faster. Beschädigung (damage) claims usually require photographic evidence and, often, retention of the damaged packaging within a short window. If the evidence window closes the claim is likely rejected. Prioritise aged damage cases over aged search cases for that reason. **How do I stop claims ageing past 7 days?** Treat the claim queue as a daily standing task, not an ad-hoc one. Two practical steps: (1) assign a single owner for the DHL claim queue so cases do not fall between CS agents, and (2) use the [Late Shipments](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/deutsche-post/late-shipments) and [Failed Deliveries](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/deutsche-post/failed-deliveries) cards to staff ahead of the incoming wave rather than reacting after the customer chases. **Does a returned-to-sender parcel count as an open claim?** No. An RTS parcel is a different outcome: the goods came back rather than going missing. It is on [Returned to Sender](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/deutsche-post/returned-to-sender). A claim is for parcels that are lost or damaged, not for parcels that bounced back to the warehouse. *** ### Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre *Open Claims* is one of hundreds of KPI pulses Vortex IQ tracks across Deutsche Post and 70+ other ecommerce connectors. Nerve Centre runs the detection layer; Vortex Mind investigates the cause when something moves; Ask Viq lets you interrogate any number in plain English. [Start for free](https://app.vortexiq.ai/login) or [book a demo](https://www.vortexiq.ai/contact-us) to see this metric running on your own data.