While until recently insurers were mainly dealing with loss events in the field of home, travel, comprehensive and accident insurance, now claims handlers are increasingly receiving claims related to purchases from Chinese online stores. However, substandard goods or goods that do not meet expectations do not qualify as an insured event.

Temu and Aliexpress are extremely popular among Estonians. A recent article in the media revealed that Temu alone flies 100 tonnes of Chinese goods of non-existent prices to Estonia every week. However, due to the steadily increasing order volumes, four planes full of ordered goods may soon be landing at Tallinn Airport every week instead of the current two Boeing aircraft.

“Unfortunately, ordering in bulk from the paradise of cheap goods carries the risk that the goods will not live up to expectations when the package is opened. Most of the time, the products look different from the beautiful advertising pictures, the product descriptions are often misleading, the items are simply of poor quality or have been damaged during transport. In the last six months, not a week has gone by that a customer who has ordered from a Chinese discount store has not contacted us with a concern. However, goods that do not meet expectations do not qualify as an insured event,” said Kristel Kobi, Head of Property Damage at Seesam, about the popularity of Chinese online stores.

Promised one thing, sent another

According to the insurer, the vast majority of cases are where people are promised one thing, but something else turns up. For example, you cannot always believe that a product is really made of silk or leather, even if the product description promises it. For example, instead of a beautiful leather bag one customer who contacted Seesam received a terribly smelly faux leather bag, which, on top of everything else, did not look anything like the pictures had promised.

“As the product did not meet the customer’s expectations, this was not a property insurance event, but the seller should have settled the claim. Often, however, they will find a reason not to return the order or simply make the return process unreasonably complicated and costly for the person,” Kobi added.

Home insurance does not indemnify substandard goods

Although the main items ordered from China are low-priced garden products, household goods, small electronic devices, clothing, footwear and accessories, there are also orders for more expensive items. “We were approached by a customer who had allegedly ordered an expensive spare part for his hobby device from Aliexpress. However, when sending the fragile item, the sender failed to mark the packaging with a glass label and the item was broken during transport. The merchant advised the customer to return the appliance, but is it practical and safe to send the broken glass to China? The seller, however, refused to refund the money without getting the appliance back,” Kobi provided an example.

According to the insurer, it must be taken into account that neither home insurance nor any other insurance product covers situations where goods ordered from online shops do not meet expectations or where the seller refuses to take back the goods.

“Home insurance is designed to protect your home and household items against unexpected damage, such as in the event of a storm, fire or theft,” explained the representative of Seesam.

However, if you do decide to order goods from China, Kobi advises you to be aware that a low price can mean a trade-off in terms of both quality and return options.