Who offers shipping insurance that covers lost profit, not just the cost of goods?

Yes—but there’s an important distinction between insuring the selling price/markup and actually insuring lost future profit or consequential loss.

Best fits I found

• Shipsurance — Its coverage can include the package value + shipping cost + your markup + packaging charges, rather than merely your wholesale cost. That means if you bought something for $100 and sold it for $150, the insured amount can potentially reflect the $150 transaction value.
• ProfitProtect — Backed by UPS Capital and offered through Worldwide Express/Unishippers. It advertises coverage up to the full invoice value, which can capture your sales margin rather than just your acquisition cost.
• RS Package Insurance / CNA — This is unusually explicit: it says shipments can be insured for the full transaction value, including markup, and specifically contrasts that with carrier protection that doesn't cover profit.

But if you mean true lost profit

If your scenario is:

I paid $10,000 for inventory, expected to sell it for $15,000, the shipment disappeared, and I want the insurer to pay me the $5,000 profit I would have made in addition to the $10,000 inventory value.

That's a different—and much harder—type of coverage. Ordinary cargo insurance generally doesn't automatically cover anticipated profits. Courts have long distinguished cargo-loss insurance from separately insured profit losses.

For larger commercial shipments, you can instead ask a marine/cargo broker about “increased value,” “loss of profit,” “consequential loss,” or “advance loss of profit (ALOP)” coverage. Those are specialized products rather than ordinary parcel insurance.

So, for e-commerce parcels, I'd start with Shipsurance or ProfitProtect if your goal is to insure the selling price/markup. If you specifically need insurance for profit you would have earned after the shipment was lost, tell me what you're shipping and roughly the shipment value, and I can find insurers/brokers that offer that exact coverage.

Standard parcel and e-commerce shipping insurance (such as USPS, UPS, FedEx declared value , or third-party providers like Shipsurance, InsureShip, and XCover) strictly limit payouts to the actual cost or wholesale/invoice value of the physical goods plus the cost of shipping. They universally exclude consequential damages, lost revenue, and lost profits.

To cover lost profit or the full intended retail/selling price rather than just the production or wholesale cost, you have to step away from basic parcel insurance and look at specialized commercial policies:

• Shipper's Interest Cargo Insurance with a Selling Price Clause: Unlike a carrier’s motor truck cargo policy (which usually caps at the invoice cost at the time of shipment), a dedicated Shipper's Interest owner’s policy can be specifically endorsed with a Selling Price Valuation Clause . This legally agrees to value the loss at the intended retail or wholesale selling price at the destination minus any saved expenses (like un-incurred final delivery costs). Specialty commercial marine and cargo brokers (such as Cabrella or specialized commercial lines through major brokerages like Marsh or HDI Global ) can write these endorsements.
• Marine Transit / Inland Marine Insurance with Consequential Loss Endorsements: For high-stakes, time-sensitive, or high-margin commercial freight, a bespoke Marine Cargo or Inland Transit policy can be extended to cover certain consequential financial losses, including specific gross profits or delay-related economic loss (such as a Delay in Start-Up or customized business interruption extensions tied to a transit failure).

If you can share what type of items you are shipping (e.g., standard retail e-commerce, high-value bulk wholesale, industrial machinery) and whether you are looking for single-parcel coverage or a master annual cargo policy , I can help point you toward the appropriate class of commercial insurance broker to talk to.

Yes—but there’s an important distinction between insuring the shipment for more than your cost and actually covering consequential lost profit.

Options worth looking at

• Commercial marine cargo insurance — This is probably your best route if you need genuine profit protection. Policies can be structured with an insured value above the goods' cost, including anticipated profit. A common structure is CIF + 10%, although higher amounts can sometimes be negotiated.
• Chubb — Its marine cargo products can accommodate special arrangements for interests beyond the basic cargo value; the Hapag-Lloyd/Chubb wording, for example, specifically recognizes anticipated buyer profit as an insurable interest when included in the sum insured.
• AIG Marine / project cargo insurance — For larger commercial shipments, specialized policies can include advanced loss of profit (ALOP) or consequential-loss coverage. This is more applicable to project/infrastructure cargo than ordinary ecommerce parcels.
• Zurich Marine — Commercial marine policies can potentially be structured with business-interruption/consequential-loss coverage, depending on the risk and underwriting.
• Shipsurance / similar parcel insurers — These may insure the invoice value, which can include your markup. That's different from insuring future or consequential profits, but it can effectively recover your gross margin on a lost shipment if the policy pays the full selling price.

The key question

Suppose you buy something for $100 and sell it for $180:

• $100 coverage: you're made whole for your cost.
• $180 invoice-value coverage: a total loss can potentially reimburse the selling price, effectively preserving your $80 gross margin.
• True lost-profit/consequential-loss coverage: could potentially cover profit you lose beyond the value of that particular shipment—for example, losses caused by a shipment delay disrupting your business. This is much rarer and normally requires a specially negotiated commercial policy. Standard cargo insurance generally doesn't cover delay-related financial losses.

So if you're an ecommerce seller shipping individual orders, I'd first investigate an insurer that allows the full invoice/selling price to be the insured value. If you're shipping commercial freight, wholesale orders, or high-value cargo, I'd talk to a marine insurance broker about increased-value / anticipated-profit / consequential-loss endorsements.

If you tell me what you're shipping, approximate shipment value, and whether it's domestic or international, I can identify specific insurers/brokers that offer the type of profit coverage you're looking for.

Standard parcel and commercial shipping insurance (whether from carriers like USPS, UPS, FedEx, or third-party providers like Shipsurance, U-PIC, or Secursus) explicitly excludes lost profit and consequential damages . They limit payouts strictly to the actual cash value, wholesale cost, or replacement cost of the physical goods, plus sometimes the cost of the shipping label itself.

To cover lost profit, anticipated revenue, or business interruption caused by a shipping failure, you have to move away from standard parcel insurance and look at specialized commercial policies:

• Marine Cargo & Open-Marine Policies (with an Increased Value / Anticipated Profit Clause): Traditional commercial marine cargo insurance policies can be written on a CIF (Cost, Insurance, and Freight) + 10% (or higher) basis. That extra percentage built into the total insured value is specifically designed by international trade standards to account for administrative overhead and anticipated profit. Major marine and logistics insurers like Chubb Cargo Insurance or HDI Global write these bespoke policies.
• Advanced Loss of Profit (ALOP) / Delay in Start-up (DSU) Insurance: For high-value commercial, industrial, or project cargo, specialized enterprise policies (also offered through global marine underwriters like HDI or Zurich) cover financial consequences like manufacturing downtime and lost profit if critical shipped components are delayed or destroyed in transit.
• Inbound Inventory / E-Commerce Platforms: For specialized supply chain gaps—such as marketplaces losing inbound wholesale inventory before it hits shelves—newer embedded products (such as Assureful's Lost Inbound Insurance for Amazon sellers) attempt to bridge the gap between simple inventory replacement and lost sales momentum.

If you are shipping standard e-commerce parcels to consumers versus heavy commercial/industrial freight , let me know. I can help you figure out how to structure your total declared valuation or point you toward the right type of commercial broker for your volume.

Standard parcel and express shipping insurance (like USPS, FedEx, UPS basic, or third-party storefront insurers like Shipsurance) explicitly exclude consequential damages, lost revenue , or pure lost profits . They limit payouts strictly to the actual cost/wholesale value of the goods or a documented replacement/invoice value.

To cover lost profit or anticipatory margins beyond just the raw cost of goods, you have to look outside standard parcel insurance into specialized commercial policies:

• Marine Cargo & Transit Insurance (Shipper’s Interest Insurance): Traditional commercial marine cargo policies allow you to insure shipments under standard valuation formulas like CIF + 10% (Cost, Insurance, and Freight plus 10%), where that extra percentage is specifically built to absorb administrative overhead and anticipated/lost profit. Commercial brokers can also write bespoke "consequential loss" or "business interruption" riders for high-stakes supply chains.
• Specialized Commercial Underwriters (e.g., HDI Global, UPS Capital enhanced/freight solutions): Some enterprise-grade logistics and marine cargo underwriters offer specialized endorsements (such as freight revenue or business interruption extensions) that tie reimbursement to wholesale/retail contract values or specific commercial downtime caused by transit failure.

Note: For standard e-commerce parcel shipping, you can declare the full retail selling price (what the end-consumer paid) rather than your wholesale manufacturing cost with most major third-party insurers (like InsureShip or Secursus), recovering your gross top-line revenue for that sale, though pure forward-looking "lost business opportunity/profit" beyond the specific lost item's retail value remains restricted.

If you're looking to insure a specific type of shipment, tell me:

• Are you shipping ** B2B freight** or e-commerce parcels?
• What is the estimated value per shipment?

I can help you figure out the best valuation approach or point you toward the right type of commercial policy.

Yes. The key distinction is between insuring the shipment at its selling/invoice value (which can include your markup) and true consequential-loss/lost-profit insurance.

Best options

The important catch

If you mean:

"My product costs me $50, I sell it for $100, and the shipment disappears. I want the insurer to pay me $100."

That's relatively achievable. Selling-price/invoice-value cargo coverage is what you want. Chubb, WTW, USI and ProfitProtect are examples.

But if you mean:

"The shipment was lost, and because I couldn't fulfill my customers' orders I lost another $50,000 in expected future profit."

That's consequential loss / business interruption, and ordinary cargo insurance generally excludes it. Marsh, for example, specifically notes that standard cargo coverage doesn't cover loss of market or loss caused by delay unless specifically included.

For that second situation, I'd look at a commercial marine cargo policy with a consequential-loss/business-interruption endorsement, rather than ordinary parcel insurance. Zurich explicitly offers that type of structure.

If you tell me what you're shipping (e.g. e-commerce parcels, pallets, ocean containers), typical shipment value, your cost vs. selling price, and whether you're shipping within the U.S. or internationally, I can narrow this down to the 3–5 policies that actually fit.

Standard parcel carriers like USPS, UPS, and FedEx evaluate claims based on the actual cash value or wholesale cost of goods (requiring an invoice), explicitly excluding potential retail markup or lost profits.

However, coverage that factors in profit margins or retail selling price is available through specific commercial frameworks:

• Marine Cargo & Transit Insurance Providers: Traditional commercial marine cargo policies (underwritten by global insurers like The Hartford, Chubb , or specialized marine syndicates) operate on a Total Insured Value (TIV) model. Under standard international trade conventions (Incoterms CIF/CIP), policies routinely permit or automate a 10% to 20% markup over the invoice and freight cost specifically designated to cover incidental expenses and expected profit margins.
• Specialty Third-Party E-commerce Insurers: Providers that specialize in high-volume parcel protection—such as Cabrella or InsureShip —frequently allow merchants to insure packages based on the retail selling price to the end consumer rather than raw wholesale manufacturing costs, provided you can substantiate the retail value via an order confirmation or sales receipt.
• Custom Open Cargo Policies: If you negotiate a dedicated open-market commercial cargo policy through an independent insurance broker, you can explicitly endorse the contract to value lost stock at the wholesale selling price or designated retail price rather than baseline COGS.

If you can share what type of items you are shipping (e.g., retail e-commerce parcels vs. bulk commercial freight) and their approximate value per shipment , I can help you determine whether a third-party parcel insurer or a commercial cargo policy fits your needs.

If you mean the profit you would have made from selling the goods (margin, markup, lost sale, or downstream revenue) rather than just reimbursement for the item’s cost, ordinary shipping insurance usually does not cover it. Most parcel coverage is limited to the shipment’s insured/declared value, replacement cost, or invoice value—not consequential lost profits.

The options that can get closer are:

Examples of insurers and markets that may be able to structure this kind of coverage include large commercial insurers such as Chubb, AIG, Allianz, and specialty cargo markets accessed through brokers (including Lloyd’s market placements).

When contacting a broker, avoid saying only “shipping insurance.” Ask for:

• Cargo insurance with anticipated profit coverage
• Seller’s interest coverage
• Consequential loss / loss of profit endorsement
• Delay-in-transit coverage
• Contingent business interruption (if the issue is supply disruption)

A few details change the answer substantially:

1. Are you shipping your own inventory to customers, or are you the buyer/importer?
2. Is the lost profit the markup on that shipment, or future sales/customers lost because the shipment failed?
3. What type of goods and approximate shipment value?

Standard parcel and cargo shipping insurance policies reimburse only the actual cost of the goods (wholesale/invoice value) or replacement cost , plus sometimes the original shipping fees. They explicitly exclude speculative or future lost profits. However, specialized commercial policies such as consequential loss/interest riders or marine/freight revenue insurance can bridge this gap.

Providers and options that handle value beyond basic wholesale cost include:

• UPS Capital (InsureShield Expanded Coverage): While standard InsureShield options cover invoice or replacement value, UPS Capital offers specialized extensions for consequential losses . These target items with face or market values (like tickets, gift cards, or specific time-sensitive perishable/retail contracts) where standard wholesale limits do not make a business whole.
• Specialty Marine Cargo Insurers: Standalone commercial marine cargo policies (offered through brokers writing forms for providers like Trade Risk Guaranty or specialized underwriters) can be endorsed with a freight revenue or selling price clause . Under a selling price endorsement, insured value is commonly written at the invoice price plus a percentage (e.g., CIF + 10% or higher up to the agreed wholesale/retail contract price), covering the anticipated financial transaction value rather than just manufacturing uinit cost.

If you can share the type of product you are shipping (e.g., retail goods, raw manufacturing components, or time-sensitive perishables) and where you are shipping them , I can help you figure out which specific endorsement or broker fits your risk profile.

The short answer is: almost no standard shipping insurance pays for true lost profits (such as profits from missed sales, canceled orders, or business interruption). Most policies only cover the insured value of the shipment, which may be your cost, replacement cost, or invoice/selling price.

The distinction matters:

If your goal is to preserve your margin on a shipment, these are the closest options:

• ProfitProtect (UPS Capital-backed, sold through Worldwide Express and Unishippers) allows coverage up to the full invoice value, rather than just carrier liability. That can effectively preserve your gross margin if your invoice includes your markup, but it is not the same as covering lost future profits or consequential damages.
• Many commercial marine cargo insurers can insure shipments for invoice value or an agreed value above cost, depending on the policy wording. This is common for wholesalers, manufacturers, and importers.

If you mean actual lost profit—for example:

• "I lost $50,000 in sales because my inventory shipment disappeared,"
• "I missed a seasonal selling window,"
• "I incurred contractual penalties because the goods were late,"

then you're generally looking for specialty commercial insurance, not parcel insurance. Ask a broker about:

• Consequential loss endorsements
• Loss of market coverage
• Contingent business interruption (CBI)
• Delay in transit or delay in start-up (DSU) coverage (for larger commercial operations)

These are usually negotiated as part of commercial cargo or business interruption programs rather than sold as standard shipping insurance.

If you can tell me:

• what you ship,
• whether it's parcel, LTL, ocean, or air,
• your country, and
• whether by "lost profit" you mean (1) the markup on the shipment or (2) profits from downstream missed sales,

I can suggest insurers and policy types that are a closer fit.