USPS Restored Its 15-Day Wait for Lost-Package Claims. Here's Who Owes You

On January 18, 2026, the US Postal Service went back to making shippers wait 15 days after mailing before filing an insurance claim for a lost package, reversing a November 2025 change that had allowed claims after 6 days. The change is procedural, and it mostly affects sellers, because they usually hold the mailing receipt or label record USPS asks for. Your core rights as a buyer did not change: whether you get your money back still depends on the seller's terms, any marketplace guarantee and how you paid, while porch theft is still handled mainly under state criminal law.

Key takeaways

Since January 18, 2026, an insured USPS package (including Priority Mail's built-in coverage) can be claimed as lost no sooner than 15 days and no later than 60 days after mailing.
USPS, UPS and FedEx coverage is aimed at loss in transit; USPS does not pay for loss that occurred after its delivery, and UPS excludes loss after the course of transportation.
Under the model Uniform Commercial Code, risk on a carrier shipment passes to the buyer at the carrier or the agreed destination; Amazon's terms set it at the hand-off to the carrier.
For items sold and fulfilled by third-party Amazon sellers, the A-to-z Guarantee covers non-receipt if the last possible delivery date is within 90 days, 3 days have passed since the latest estimated delivery date or a delivery confirmation, and the seller has not resolved it within 48 hours of contact.
Texas broadened its mail-theft statute in 2025; Alabama raised porch-piracy penalties, according to local news reports; a federal bill covering private-carrier packages has not left committee as of October 2026.

What it means for you

Marked delivered but not there: Amazon advises waiting 48 hours because packages may be scanned as delivered before they arrive; after that, go to the seller rather than the carrier, because USPS and UPS coverage does not extend to loss after delivery.
Porch theft caught on camera: file a police report and send it with the footage to the seller. Theft from a porch is a state crime; USPS mail theft can also be a federal one (see the section on stolen packages).
Lost in transit, never delivered: the seller is the party with the carrier contract and the label record. The new USPS 15-day wait applies to its claim, not to your request for a refund or replacement.
Amazon or marketplace orders: orders shipped by Amazon go to Amazon customer service within 30 days of expected delivery; orders sold and shipped by a third-party seller go to the seller first, then the A-to-z Guarantee.
USPS vs UPS or FedEx: USPS lets the addressee file a lost claim only with the mailing receipt or label record; UPS and FedEx let recipients start claims, but UPS pays the shipper and a shipper can block recipient claims on its account.
Gifts shipped to someone else: the buyer, not the recipient, usually has the order, the receipt and the dispute rights, so the buyer should file.

What actually changed since 2025

The headline change is procedural. On August 21, 2025, USPS cut the earliest filing date for insured-mail claims to 6 days, effective November 3, 2025. After reviewing it, the agency proposed in November 2025 to restore the 15-day wait "to re-align the filing thresholds with other mail service and bulk claims," received no formal comments, and made it final effective January 18, 2026. The current Domestic Mail Manual section 609 lists 15 to 60 days after mailing for insured mail and 7 to 60 days for Priority Mail Express.

The other changes are in criminal law, not refund law:

Texas amended its mail-theft offense, Penal Code section 31.20, through Senate Bill 1281, effective September 1, 2025. The statute already covered packages from any common carrier or delivery service that were delivered but not yet received; the amendment added items still in transit, dropped the wording that limited the offense to taking mail "from another person's mailbox or premises," and created a rebuttable presumption of theft when someone holds mail from five or more addressees.
Alabama put a porch-piracy law into effect on October 1, 2025, according to WSFA, with penalties that scale by the number of homes targeted rather than the value stolen. The text of the act itself was not available to check.
Congress received the Porch Pirates Act of 2025 (H.R. 6924) on December 23, 2025. Its latest recorded action is referral to the House Judiciary Committee; it is not law.

Carrier and retailer terms were reissued too: the UPS Tariff/Terms and Conditions of Service carries an April 17, 2026 effective date, and Amazon's Conditions of Use show a last update of August 14, 2026. Clauses quoted below come from those versions. None of the changes above gives buyers a new federal refund right for a missing package.

Who carries the risk in transit

A common assumption is that the seller bears the risk until you receive the goods. That rule exists, but it usually does not cover shipped orders. Under UCC section 2-509, the model sales law on which state sales codes are based (states can enact it with changes), risk passes to the buyer "on his receipt of the goods if the seller is a merchant" only in cases not involving shipment by carrier. When the contract requires or authorizes shipment by carrier, risk passes when the goods are delivered to the carrier if no particular destination is required, or when they are tendered at the destination if one is. The section is subject to a contrary agreement between the parties and to separate rules when the seller is in breach, for example by shipping goods that do not conform to the order (section 2-510).

Retailers' terms decide which version applies. Amazon's say that all purchases of physical items from Amazon are made under a shipment contract, so "the risk of loss and title for such items pass to you upon our delivery to the carrier." On paper, a parcel Amazon sold that is lost after pickup is then the buyer's loss. Even so, Amazon's own help pages still tell customers to contact it about a missing package it shipped, and two other layers sit on top of the sales contract:

Marketplace guarantees. Amazon's A-to-z Guarantee applies only to items sold and fulfilled by a third-party seller. For a missing package, the last possible delivery date must be within 90 days, 3 days must have passed since the latest estimated delivery date or a delivery confirmation (whichever comes sooner), and the seller must have failed to respond or resolve the issue within 48 hours of contact.
Payment protections. Federal credit card rules treat goods "not delivered to the consumer or the consumer's designee as agreed" as a billing error. The written notice must reach the card issuer at its billing-error address within 60 days after it sent the first statement showing the charge. The rule covers extensions of credit, such as credit card charges, so it does not apply to debit card payments.

The FTC's Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule covers a different problem: a seller that cannot ship within the promised time (generally 30 days if none was stated) must offer you the choice of agreeing to the delay or cancelling for a prompt refund. It defines shipment as placing the goods "in the possession of the carrier," so it does not decide who pays for a box lost afterward.

This is general information about consumer rules, not legal advice for a specific dispute.

Carrier claims and their limits

Carrier coverage pays the person or business with the shipping contract, usually the seller, and it has a ceiling. The table summarizes the current terms of the three main carriers as of October 2026.

Carrier	Coverage without extra purchase	Who can file a lost claim	Deadline for a lost package	Loss after delivery
USPS	Up to $100 with Priority Mail, Priority Mail Express and Ground Advantage (domestic, with tracking barcode)	Mailer or addressee holding the original receipt or online label record	Insured mail: 15 to 60 days after mailing; Priority Mail Express: 7 to 60 days	Not paid if it occurred after USPS delivery
UPS	Liability limited to $100 per domestic package unless a higher value is declared	Shipper; recipients can file as a guest unless the shipper's account restricts it, and payment goes to the shipper	Notice within 60 days of scheduled delivery; claim filed within 9 months of it	Excluded if it arose after the course of transportation
FedEx	Standard $100 limit of liability; declared value can raise it	Shipper or recipient	Within 9 months of the shipment date (60 days for damage or missing contents on US packages)	Not addressed on the claims page

Sources: the USPS insurance page and DMM 609, which lists loss "that occurred after delivery by the USPS" as nonpayable; the UPS tariff and claims page, which also says that for UPS Ground Saver packages, claims are no longer accepted once a scan shows the package was handed over to the Post Office; and the FedEx declared value page and claims page, which tells recipients they can ask the merchant for a replacement, ask it to file, or file themselves.

Illustrative example: a $180 order with $100 of coverage

A small online shop ships $180 headphones by USPS Priority Mail on March 2, 2026, with the included insurance of up to $100. Tracking stalls and the box never arrives. Under the 15-day rule, the shop can file a lost claim from March 17 through May 1, 2026; under the short-lived 6-day rule, it could have filed from March 8.

Shortfall to seller = item price - maximum carrier payout
                    = $180 - $100
                    = $80

Here the item price is what the buyer paid, and the maximum carrier payout is the included insurance, paid only if USPS approves the claim; on an approved loss claim USPS also refunds the postage, which does not change the $80 gap on the item. A shop that refunds $180 at once carries at least $80 itself and waits at least 15 days for the rest. That gap explains why some sellers point buyers to the carrier, but the buyer usually lacks the receipt or label record USPS requires, so the request belongs with the seller.

When the package is stolen

Theft after delivery falls outside carrier coverage, leaving retailer policy, payment protections and criminal law. Federal law, 18 U.S.C. 1708, punishes stealing mail, including packages, from a letter box, mail receptacle, mail route or "other authorized depository for mail matter," with a fine, up to five years in prison, or both. Its text is written around the US mail. H.R. 6924 would add a separate federal offense, in the interstate-shipment theft law at 18 U.S.C. 659, for stealing a package delivered by a private or commercial interstate carrier before the addressee takes possession, but it has not passed.

Theft of private-carrier packages is prosecuted under state law. Texas is a clear example: its statute counts a package as mail when it was delivered by any common carrier or delivery service but not yet received, and the offense rises from a Class A misdemeanor for fewer than 10 addressees to a felony for 10 or more. Other states use general theft laws or their own porch-piracy statutes.

Reporting depends on the carrier:

Any stolen package: a local police report gives the seller, marketplace or card issuer an independent record.
USPS mail: the US Postal Inspection Service takes reports of suspected mail theft online or at 1-877-876-2455.
Lost, not stolen: a USPS Missing Mail search can be started 7 days after mailing.

Prevention means not leaving parcels unattended. USPS Informed Delivery is free and sends package alerts; Hold For Pickup keeps an item at a Post Office for up to 15 days (5 for Priority Mail Express); Signature Confirmation costs $5.15 at a Post Office or $4.15 online (USPS prices as of October 2026). FedEx Delivery Manager can redirect a package to a retail pickup location or hold deliveries for up to two weeks, and FedEx automatically requires a direct signature on US shipments declared at $500 or more.

Frequently asked questions

What happens if USPS finds my package after paying a claim?

Under DMM 609, the person who was paid may accept the recovered item but must repay USPS the full amount if it is undamaged. If it is damaged or has missing contents, the repayment is set by the USPS Consumer Advocate at headquarters.

Can I use the A-to-z Guarantee and a card dispute together?

No. Amazon's guarantee page says that if you request a refund or chargeback from your payment provider, you are not eligible for an A-to-z refund. Pick one route and keep records of which one you used.

How long does a UPS claim usually take?

UPS says a claim typically resolves in 8 to 10 business days unless more investigation is needed. If approved, payment goes to the shipper about 3 days after UPS validates the payment documents, which is another reason recipients usually get made whole through the seller.

Does a USPS insurance claim cover a box that arrived empty?

Missing contents follow different rules from a lost parcel. Either the mailer or the addressee can file, USPS says to file immediately and no later than 60 days after mailing, and the addressee must keep the container and packaging available for inspection or the claim can be denied.

Does my UPS My Choice release affect a claim?

Yes. UPS says packages a recipient chose to have the driver release, such as a package that required a signature or one released to an apartment building through UPS My Choice, cannot be submitted as lost claims. If such a package disappears, the request has to go to the seller instead.

Your first 48 hours, step by step

Hour 0: screenshot the tracking page, the delivery scan time and any delivery photo, and save the order confirmation.
Hours 0 to 2: check the address on the order, the mailbox, side doors, parcel rooms and neighbors, and look for a delivery-attempt notice.
If you have video: export the clips covering the scan time before the camera overwrites them.
If it was stolen: file a police report; for USPS mail, also report to the Postal Inspection Service.
Hours 24 to 48: if nothing appears, contact the seller in writing with your evidence and ask for a replacement or refund. Amazon says to wait 48 hours on items marked delivered, then contact customer service within 30 days of expected delivery for Amazon-shipped orders.
After the seller's deadline: for a third-party Amazon seller, file under the A-to-z Guarantee once the 90-day, 3-day and 48-hour conditions are met; otherwise consider a credit card dispute within its 60-day window, but not both, because a chargeback makes the order ineligible for an A-to-z refund.
Next order: use a pickup location, a hold or a signature option for anything you cannot afford to lose.