Advice please- Hermes and lost parcel

HippyDippy

Hi, I sold an item for £70 on Facebook Marketplace. The buyer paid me via paypal and I posted it via Hermes. The buyer has now contacted me to say that the parcel never arrived. Tracked it with Hermes and yes they have lost the parcel. The buyer has made a claim through paypal for me to pay back the £70. Meanwhile I have made a claim to Hermes for the lost parcel, but I didn't take out extra insurance on the item and I think they will only cover you up to £20. Any advice please on what to do and whether I have any hope here of getting my money back. Thanks very much for any help. 

knightstyle

You should have insured it for the £70 it is worth. Unfortunately you stated to Hermes it was only worth £20 to avoid paying extra for insurance.  Sorry but you will just have to accept a £50 loss.

mattyprice4004

When checking out the insurance only covering £20 is very obvious - they make you confirm you agree this is all you can claim for. 
If you cheaped out on insurance and took a gamble, you can't really blame them when you lose. Next time just insure to the full value and this won't happen.  

pinkshoes

You need to refund the buyer as they have paid for something that they haven't got.

You then need to claim from Hermes. If you didn't take out extra insurance then unfortunately £20 is all you can claim from them. They do make you confirm this before purchasing their service. 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Hermes doesn't sell insurance, they offer you parcel cover or similar, as the sale of insurance is regulated. 

It would be interesting to know if something like this has ever gone through an official process. The parcel companies claim they handle large volumes with losses being relatively small but it still seems off they can simply lose your stuff and say you should have paid extra to cover it, although there probably has to be a limit otherwise they could be on the hook for £50k watch if it went missing.

I assume it comes down to whether this losing of parcels is negligent or not.

HippyDippy

Thanks very much for the replies and advice.