What it does

For stores that ship physical goods and want to turn lost or damaged parcels into a paid service. Customers add protection at checkout for a small fee; when a parcel is damaged, lost or stolen they file a claim from their account and you reship or refund. It is a service of your store, not insurance: you set the price and decide each claim. Works on CS-Cart, CS-Cart Ultimate per storefront and Multi-Vendor, where the fee is split over vendor orders.

How it works

The box sits above the Place order button with the fee for this cart. Ticking it adds a separate line to the totals, the order, the invoice and the order e-mails. The box is unchecked by default; you may pre-check it only outside a country list that holds the EU, EEA, UK and Switzerland. On the order page in the account the customer picks what happened and which items, describes it and adds photos. You answer with Reship, Refund or Declined and a reply the customer sees.

Features

Opt-in protection box at checkout with the fee for the current cart
Fee as a percent, value tiers or a fixed amount, with minimum, maximum and an order value threshold
Never pre-checked for EU, EEA, UK and Swiss addresses, optional pre-check elsewhere
Separate line in totals, orders, invoices and order e-mails, taxed with the taxes you choose
Claims from the customer account: damaged, lost, missing, stolen or wrong item, items, description and photos
Photos re-encoded to JPEG without metadata and kept outside public access
Claim period and order statuses that allow claims
Admin claim queue with status tabs, photos, refund amount, replacement order link, reply and internal note
Report with fee revenue, attach rate, claim rate, refunds and net result by month
Multi-Vendor: fee split over vendor orders, vendors see their claims and can resolve them if you allow it
CS-Cart Ultimate: settings per storefront
Nothing on cached pages: full page cache safe on 4.21

What you get

Package	kv_shipping_protection-1.0.0.zip, installed through Add-ons → Manage add-ons
Updates & support	12 months included. Download new versions from your account and install them in Add-ons → Manage add-ons or the Upgrade Center.
License	1 production installation. Staging, dev and localhost are free and unlimited. The add-on keeps working after the update period ends. How licensing works

Compatibility

We list only the builds we install and test on. “Tested” means the full test plan was run on that build; “Supported” means the build is inside the supported range and uses the same hooks.

CS-Cart version and edition compatibility
CS-Cart version	CS-Cart	CS-Cart Ultimate	Multi-Vendor	Multi-Vendor Ultimate
4.22 and later	Testing next	Testing next	Testing next	Testing next
4.21.2	Supported	Supported	Supported	Supported
4.20.x	Supported	Supported	Supported	Supported
4.19.x	Supported	Supported	Supported	Supported
4.18.x	Supported	Supported	Supported	Supported
4.17.2	Supported	Supported	Tested	Supported
Before 4.17.2	Not supported	Not supported	Not supported	Not supported

Last tested build: Multi-Vendor 4.17.2, Nov 4, 2026Tested on: Multi-Vendor 4.17.2

Requirements

Platform	CS-Cart and Multi-Vendor 4.17.2 or later
Requirement	Administrator access to the store's admin panel
PHP	The PHP GD extension (required by CS-Cart anyway) for claim photos
Core changes	None. Hooks and template overrides only

1.0.0

Nov 4, 2026

Latest

Added 7

Opt-in shipping protection box at checkout with the fee of the current cart; percent, value tiers or fixed fee with minimum, maximum and an order value threshold; optional taxes on the fee.
Never pre-checked for EU, EEA, UK and Swiss shipping addresses; optional pre-check for other countries until the customer touches the box.
Separate protection line in checkout totals, order pages, admin orders, invoices and order e-mails; order data in the REST API.
Claims from the customer order page: type, items, description and photos (re-encoded JPEG, stored outside public access), claim period and allowed order statuses.
Admin claim queue and claim page: Open, Reship, Refund, Declined, refund amount, replacement order, reply and internal note.
Report: fee revenue, attach rate, claim rate, refunds and net result by month and by claim type.
Multi-Vendor: fee split over vendor orders, vendor claim view with optional vendor decisions; CS-Cart Ultimate settings per storefront.

Tested on Multi-Vendor 4.17.2. First release.

Is this insurance?

No. Shipping protection is a service of your store: the customer pays a fee and you promise to reship or refund when a parcel is lost, damaged or stolen in transit. Your store carries the risk and decides each claim. Do not call it insurance in your texts, and describe the cover in your terms (link it with the "Protection terms page URL" setting). If you also insure parcels with your carrier, that is a separate contract between you and the carrier.

Why is the box not pre-checked?

In the EU, the EEA and the UK an extra payment needs the customer's express consent, and a pre-ticked box is not consent. The box is therefore unchecked by default. You may pre-check it for other countries with "Box state when the page opens"; addresses in the country list never get a pre-checked box.

How is the fee calculated?

From the value of the products that ship (downloads without shipping and gift certificates excluded), with the fee type you choose and your minimum and maximum. Shipping costs are not part of the base. See Configuration.

Is the fee taxed?

Only when you choose taxes in "Taxes on the fee". The tax follows the same rules as products: price includes tax or not, tax-exempt customers, the tax calculation method of your store.

Do I have to pay the refund in the add-on?

No. The add-on records the decision and the amount. You refund through your payment provider, by store credit or as you usually do.

Can a customer claim twice?

One open claim per order at a time. After your answer the customer can send another claim within the claim period.

Where are the photos stored and who can see them?

In var/kv_shipping_protection/claims/ on your server, outside public access. Administrators (and vendors for their own orders on Multi-Vendor) see them on the claim page. Photos are re-encoded to JPEG without metadata. Deleting a claim or an order deletes its photos.

Does it work with the full page cache of CS-Cart 4.21?

Yes. The add-on prints nothing on cacheable pages; the box and the claim form live on the checkout and the customer's order page, which are not cached.

What happens on Multi-Vendor?

The fee is split over the vendor orders by their product value. Each vendor order shows its share. Vendors see the claims of their orders and can decide them when you switch on "vendors resolve claims of their orders".