Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.
eBay ShipCover Insurance Class Action Lawsuit
By Kimberly Mirando
A federal class action lawsuit claims eBay sells ShipCover insurance that excludes from coverage the very items it ships, rendering the policy useless.
Lead Plaintiff Luke Knowles alleges in the class action lawsuit that eBay knows that ShipCover insurance doesn’t cover entire categories of items, but does not disclose this information to sellers when they buy the insurance, presumably because eBay shares in the revenue generated by ShipCover.
Knowles, who is a “regular seller of coins on eBay,” learned he was paying for worthless eBay shipping insurance coverage when a buyer notified him that a package Knowles sent arrived open, with the coin missing. Knowles refunded the buyer the purchase price and made a claim under the ShipCover insurance he bought for the package, but was denied because eBay said the “item insured is on the list of items that are eligible for coverage,” according to the class action lawsuit.
Knowles says eBay “intentionally elected not to prohibit sellers from obtaining ShipCover insurance when merchandise is sold under the categories of items that are specifically excluded under the policy.” In other words, eBay accepted his insurance premium payment, while simultaneously denying coverage for the item he wanted to insure.
“The ShipCover policy excludes from coverage ‘coins, bullions, loose diamonds or stones, stocks, bonds, currency, deeds, evidences of debt, travelers checks, money orders, gift certificates, calling cards, lottery tickets, admission tickets, or any other negotiable documents,'” the eBay ShipCover class action lawsuit states. But “these exclusions are not evident on the checkout page, even though that page offers the insurance and sets the insured value, and that determines the price of insurance.”
Knowles says had he been aware that the exact item he wanted to insure was excluded from the policy, he never would have purchased ShipCover insurance “because it was worthless. In fact, no person would purchase this insurance for any of the excluded categories if they were aware of the exclusions as it defeats the entire purpose of the insurance.”
The eBay ShipCover Class Action Lawsuit is brought on behalf of a proposed class of similar eBay users who were duped into buying ShipCover, even though it didn’t cover the items they were shipping. It is seeking damages for unfair competition, negligence, illusory contract, unjust enrichment, unconscionable contract and unilateral mistake.
Knowles is represented by James Mills, of Oakland, California.
Updated October 11th, 2012
All class action and lawsuit news updates are listed in the Lawsuit News section of Top Class Actions
Top Class Actions Legal Statement
4 thoughts oneBay ShipCover Insurance Class Action Lawsuit
Recien compre una gift card por 150 dólares en CVS pharmacy la gift card es de eBay y cuando ingrese al sitio web para revisar mi saldo me dijo que era inválido o sea la tarjeta me la vendieron sin fondos y ninguna de las dos empresas me quiere devolver mi dinero
I lost 1000 a bag of junk silver! How do I join or help with this law suit?
Positively absolutely opt out of any agreement that takes away your right to join a class action suit.
You can always agree to arbitration if you wish. By opting out you will have a choice.
I recently lost a claim on a graded $1 Gold coin worth $280 that was stolen in the mail by someone in USPS for the same reasons as stated above. I have insured probably close to 50 coins using Shipcover not knowing that none of them were covered and was outraged that ebay allowed me to purchase this useless insurance. Is there anyway to still join this class action lawsuit and should I opt out of the mandatory agreement that would take away my right to join a class action lawsuit against ebay. Thank you for the post. I was happy to see that someone is going after ebay and Shipcover for this fraud they are committing.