At a glance
Live count of FedEx claims (loss, damage, missed-commit money-back-guarantee) the merchant has filed and FedEx has not yet resolved. Each open claim represents either pending revenue (FedEx will refund) or pending writedown (claim denied, merchant absorbs the loss). The number sits between operations and finance.
Calculation
Calculated automatically from your FedEx data. See the At a glance summary above for what the metric tracks and the worked example below for a typical reading.Worked example
A US DTC electronics accessory brand shipping out of Dallas, TX, predominantly via FedEx Ground and 2Day Express. Snapshot taken at 14:00 CT on 12 Mar 26.
The card reads 28 with the alert tripped on 3 of the 28 (one damage claim + two loss claims have been open more than 7 days). Five things to notice:
- Money-back-guarantee claims dominate the count but are low-value. 18 of 28 claims, but only 1,476 expected. These are the easy wins, file them weekly, FedEx auto-approves most within 2 to 5 days. Set up a Friday review cadence.
- The 3 loss claims are the highest-value-per-unit and the slowest to resolve. $145 average, 11.5 days open. FedEx loss claims require the merchant to provide commercial invoice, proof-of-value, and proof-of-shipment. Without these documents the claim sits in
awaiting_docsindefinitely. The alert at >7d open prompts the merchant to either supply missing docs or escalate to the FedEx account manager. - The 7 damage claims average 6.8 days, near the alert threshold. Damage claims need photos at point of receipt, ideally within 48 hours of delivery. If the customer reported damage 4 days after receipt, FedEx may deny on grounds of “not promptly reported”. Train CS to escalate damage reports to the claims-filing process within 24 hours; otherwise expect 30% to 40% denial rate.
- **1,500 per snapshot and 26 snapshots/year (every two weeks) the merchant is recovering roughly $35,000/year through FedEx claims. Most small DTC brands miss this entirely because they do not file. The card surfaces the workload.
- 3 of 28 are >7 days old and the alert just tripped. The action is escalate, either supply missing documentation, or contact the FedEx account team if the claim has been sitting in
in_reviewwithout progress. Most claims that age past 14 days are documentation-related; FedEx pays the rest in roughly 7 days.
Sibling cards merchants should reference together
Open claims are the financial-impact lens on shipping problems. Pair them with operational and revenue cards.Reconciling against the vendor’s own dashboard
Where to look in FedEx’s own dashboard: FedEx Customer Support claims portal → My Claims → Open. The portal shows each open claim’s status, age, expected recovery, and any document requests from FedEx. The Money-Back Guarantee claims live on a separate path: FedEx Billing Online → Money-Back Guarantee → Eligible & Pending. The card unifies these into a single count. Why our number may legitimately differ from FedEx’s portal:
Cross-connector reconciliation:
Known limitations / merchant FAQs
How long do FedEx claims typically take to resolve? Median 4 to 14 days. Money-back-guarantee claims (Express late) auto-resolve fastest, often 2 to 5 days. Damage claims with photos at point of receipt resolve in 5 to 10 days. Loss claims for domestic parcels resolve in 7 to 14 days; international loss claims with customs documentation can take 3 to 6 weeks. Why is my claim sitting inawaiting_docs?
FedEx requested supporting documentation, typically commercial invoice, proof-of-value (purchase order, retail price), photos for damage, or proof-of-shipment. Until the merchant uploads the docs, the claim does not progress. The alert at >7d open is designed to catch this. Set up an internal triage process: any claim aged beyond 5 days, check the FedEx portal for document requests and respond within 24 hours.
What is FedEx’s claim approval rate for DTC merchants?
Highly variable by claim type. Money-back-guarantee on Express services has near-100% approval (it is contractual). Domestic damage claims with photos have 75% to 90% approval. Domestic loss claims have 60% to 80% approval. International loss claims have 40% to 55% approval. Across all types, well-documented merchants run 70% to 80% approval; under-documented merchants run 40% to 55%.
Can I claim damage if the customer reported it 5 days after delivery?
FedEx requires “prompt reporting” of damage, which it interprets as within 60 days of delivery for filing purposes but ideally within 7 days for high-approval rate. After 60 days the claim is automatically denied. Train CS to escalate damage reports to claims-filing within 24 hours of customer contact; the photo timestamp from the customer matters for evidence.
FedEx denied my claim, what next?
File an appeal within 9 months of the original ship date via the FedEx Customer Support portal. Appeals require additional evidence (delivery scan analysis, customer statement, photos). Approximately 30% to 40% of denials are reversed on appeal when the merchant supplies new evidence. Beyond appeals, escalation to the FedEx account manager is the next step for high-value claims.
Are FedEx claims tax-deductible if denied?
Talk to your accountant. Generally a denied loss claim becomes an inventory writedown for the merchant; the cost basis of the parcel contents is deductible as cost of goods sold. The card does not track denial outcomes; pull historical data from the FedEx portal for tax purposes.
Should I outsource claims filing?
For low-volume merchants (<10 claims/month), in-house is cheaper. For high-volume merchants (>50 claims/month), services like ShipScience, ShareSpend, and Refund Retriever automate claim filing for 30% to 50% of recovery as their fee. The economics flip around the 50-claim/month mark. The card tells you the volume; the math is yours.
Why did open claims jump after a weather event?
Weather drives a wave of late shipments, a smaller wave of damage shipments (truck-handling damage during embargo recovery), and occasionally a wave of loss shipments (parcels mis-routed during chaotic re-routing). Expect open-claim count to climb 3 to 7 days after the weather event peak in Exception Rate. The wave processes through over the next 2 to 4 weeks.
Can I file a money-back-guarantee claim for a Ground shipment?
No. FedEx Ground, Home Delivery, and SmartPost (Ground Economy) do not carry a money-back guarantee. Late Ground shipments can only be claimed as damage or loss, and only if there is a tangible loss event (parcel lost in transit, contents damaged on arrival). A merely-late Ground shipment that did eventually deliver is not claimable. This is the structural reason MBG claims dominate the count for Express-heavy merchants and damage claims dominate for Ground-heavy merchants.
What does the alert at “any claim open >7 days” actually mean operationally?
It is a follow-up prompt, not a degradation signal. FedEx’s own published SLA is to respond on most claims within 5 business days. Past 7 calendar days, the merchant should check the portal for document requests, escalate to the FedEx account team, or file an appeal if the claim was silently denied. The alert exists to prevent claims from sitting forgotten.
My open claim count is 0. Is that good?
Sometimes. A merchant with zero open claims is either (a) running a flawless shipping operation (rare), (b) not filing claims they could be filing (common, see the 30% to 50% of small DTC merchants leaving claims on the table), or (c) shipping low volume. Cross-reference with Late Shipments and Failed Deliveries, if those counts are non-trivial and open claims is zero, the merchant is missing recovery opportunities. Set up a weekly review cadence.