LetterAgent
Mail physical letters by just asking your AI assistant.
Home > Guides > Refund for lost mail
Not for the postage itself. A stamp buys carriage, not a delivery guarantee: if a regular letter vanishes, neither USPS nor Canada Post refunds the postage. You can get back the fee for an extra service that wasn't performed, and claim a payout if you bought insurance. Without an extra service, a lost letter is simply a loss.
| What happened | What you can claim |
|---|---|
| Regular letter lost, stamp only | Nothing: postage is not refundable for lost ordinary mail |
| Certified or registered fee paid, but the service was never performed | The extra-service fee back, since you paid for a service you didn't get |
| Item sent with declared value or insurance, then lost | A claim for the declared value, with proof of the item's worth |
| Express service that missed its guaranteed date | A postage refund under the service guarantee, where one applies |
Because a stamp never promised delivery. Postage pays for the attempt: collection, sorting, transport, and delivery effort. The postal service's obligation is to carry your letter through the system, and the overwhelming majority of the time it does. Insurance-style protection is a separate product you buy separately, which is exactly what registered mail's included coverage and declared-value options are. Treating every stamp as an implied insurance policy would price stamps out of reach. The system is blunt but honest: protection costs extra, always.
When the service wasn't rendered. If you paid for certified mail and the item was never processed as certified, the fee is refundable because you bought something specific and didn't receive it. The same logic applies to signature confirmation that was never attempted. Keep the receipt: the claim is filed with proof of payment and the tracking record showing what actually happened. This is a refund of the fee, not compensation for the letter's contents, which is a separate question handled by insurance.
Registered mail includes coverage up to a set limit, and you can declare higher values for an additional fee. If the item is lost, you file a claim with evidence of the value: receipts, appraisals, or documented replacement cost. Two catches people discover too late. First, claims have filing windows, so don't sit on it. Second, sentimental value doesn't count: the payout reflects the item's provable monetary value. For irreplaceable originals, no payout restores the document, which is why you mail copies and keep originals whenever you can.
Ready to mail it? Send your letter with LetterAgent: describe it to your AI assistant, approve the exact quoted price, and it's printed and mailed.
LetterAgent is a working name. Prices include print, postage, and our service fee. US prices in USD, Canadian prices in CAD (Canadian prices exclude applicable sales tax, added at checkout). Currently in private testing.
Need help? Ask your assistant: it can check a job's status any time. If it ever can't handle something: hello@getletteragent.com