"Damaged in transit" means the carrier has recorded physical damage to your parcel somewhere between the sender's warehouse and your door. In nearly every carrier network, only the retailer who paid for the shipment can file the claim. Your first call is the shop, not the courier.
Short answer: "Damaged in transit" means the carrier logged visible damage to your parcel or its contents on the way to you. The parcel may still be delivered, refused at the door, or returned. In almost every network the sender holds the contract, so the retailer files the claim and you supply the photographs.
What does "damaged in transit" actually mean?
It means someone or something in the carrier's network saw a problem with the parcel. A crushed corner on a belt scan. A tear the driver spots at the door. Or a broken item you find on opening the box.
Carriers split this into two very different cases, and the split matters for your money.
Outer packaging damage. The box is dented, torn, or wet. Some carriers treat this as cosmetic and will not pay out on the packaging alone. GLS states plainly that damaged outer or transport packaging is not by itself a reason for complaint.
Content damage. The goods inside are broken. This is the case that gets compensated, and it is the case that needs evidence.
The raw scan you see on tracking rarely uses the word "damaged" at all. Most networks push it out as a generic exception first, which is why the status can look like a delivery exception rather than a clear damage report.
How does each carrier word it?
Wording is not standardized. Here is how the major UK and European networks phrase it on their own help pages, plus the big US carriers.
| Carrier | How they word it | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Royal Mail (UK) | "My mail arrived damaged, what should I do?" | Treated as damage or part loss. Keep the item and the packaging, and expect to show proof of value. |
| Evri (UK) | "The parcel was delivered damaged" | Evri says some parcels "may get accidentally damaged during delivery". Claims need photos of both the damage and the packaging, and you keep the item until it is settled. |
| Yodel (UK) | "My parcel arrived damaged" | Yodel tells recipients to contact the sender, who can arrange a replacement. |
| InPost (UK) | "My parcel has been lost or damaged, what happens?" | If the label came from a marketplace or retailer, InPost sends you back to them. |
| DPD | "Damage report" | DPD covers both cases: "the packaging is visibly damaged, or it looks all right from the outside, but the goods inside are damaged". A Damage Report must be filled in within two working days of delivery. |
| GLS | "My parcel has been delivered damaged. What can I do?" | GLS says contact the sender immediately and send photos. Only the sender can hold GLS liable. Externally damaged parcels can be accepted "subject to reservation" with a damage record written by the driver. |
| bpost (BE) | "Why should I contact the sender if my parcel is damaged?" | Only the sender can file a complaint, because the sender pays bpost. bpost must receive that complaint within seven calendar days of delivery. |
| PostNL (NL) | "Received a damaged package" | Tell the sender as soon as possible so they can claim. |
| PostNord (Nordics) | "Missing, damaged or delayed consignments" | Filed as a complaint. Keep all packaging and contents so PostNord can inspect them. |
| Colissimo / La Poste (FR) | "Mon envoi a été livré abîmé, son contenu détérioré" | Refuse a visibly damaged parcel at the door and it goes back to the sender. If you find damage on opening, contact the sender, who deals with La Poste. |
| An Post (IE) | "Missing, Delayed or Damaged" enquiry | Handled as an enquiry with evidence of value, including a picture of the damaged item and its outer packaging. |
| DHL | "Lost or damaged shipment" claim | DHL's tracking feed usually reports a failure or exception event, and the damage itself is handled through the claims process. |
| USPS | "Damaged or Missing Contents" | If the item arrives damaged or is missing contents you can file an indemnity claim immediately, and no later than 60 days after the mailing date. |
| FedEx | "Damaged or missing contents" | File within 60 calendar days of the shipment date for US packages, 21 days for international. Keep the original packaging and contents until the claim is resolved. |
The pattern across Europe is consistent. The shopper is not the claimant. The merchant is. For the scans that sit either side of this one, see the carrier tracking statuses guide.
How long it normally lasts
No carrier publishes a clock for a damage scan, because it is not a stage of the journey. It is a flag on the journey. Judge it by what happens next, not by hours elapsed.
What the next scan should be. A damaged parcel that is still deliverable normally carries on and lands a delivered scan. A damaged parcel the carrier will not hand over normally moves to a return to sender leg. One of those two things should appear. A damage flag followed by silence is the warning sign.
What resets the clock. Any new scan. A depot re-scan, a repack, a fresh out-for-delivery event. Each one means the parcel is moving again, and the wait restarts from there.
When it stops being normal. Two triggers. The parcel sits on the damage flag with no new scan across several working days while the network is otherwise running. Or the claim window starts closing, because several carriers run tight deadlines from the delivery or shipment date.
Wait a week for the parcel and you lose nothing. Wait a week to report the damage and you can lose the claim.
What should you do if your parcel arrives damaged?
- Do not throw anything away. Keep the box, the void fill, the label, and the item. Evri and FedEx both require the original packaging and contents to be retained until a claim is settled.
- Photograph it before you unpack further. Shoot the outer box from several angles, the label, the packing material, and the damaged goods.
- Decide at the door if you can. If the box is visibly wrecked and the driver is still there, you can refuse it. Colissimo and GLS both confirm a refused parcel goes back to the sender. Refusing is cleaner than accepting and arguing later.
- Ask the driver to record it. GLS drivers write a damage record on the spot for externally damaged parcels. La Poste can issue a "constat de détérioration" for a degraded registered item. Get a copy.
- Contact the retailer, not the carrier. bpost, GLS, Yodel and La Poste all say the same thing in their own words: only the sender can claim. Send the retailer your order number and your photos.
- Watch the deadline, not the parcel. DPD wants a Damage Report within two working days. bpost needs the complaint within seven calendar days. USPS and FedEx run 60 days from the mailing or shipment date. Report first, negotiate second.
UK and EU consumer law puts the risk on the trader until the goods reach your hands, so a broken item is the shop's problem to fix. Ask the merchant for a replacement or a refund. Their claim against the carrier is a separate conversation.
What should merchants do differently?
Treat the damage flag as an event to act on, not a ticket to wait for. The customer already knows the box is broken. The only question is who speaks first.
That means catching the exception on the carrier feed, matching it to the order, and starting the replacement before the email arrives. Pango connects to more than 100 carriers through prebuilt connectors and normalizes their scans onto one record of the order. A damage or exception event on your order tracking can then fire an apology, a photo request, and a replacement in the same motion. The same record drives the refund or exchange in return management, so nobody rekeys the order into a second tool.
Two habits help more than any tool. Put the photo request in your first reply, because every carrier claim needs it. And track damage by carrier and by lane, because damage that clusters on one route is a packaging or routing problem you can fix.
The bottom line
A damaged parcel is a merchant problem with a carrier paper trail attached. Photograph everything, keep the packaging, and go to the retailer, because in almost every European network the shopper cannot file the claim anyway. For stores, the win is spotting the damage scan and acting before the customer writes in. See how that runs on one record of the order, or book a demo.
