Effective 24 October 2026.
Shipping Protection is an optional service offered by H&D Automotive Pty Ltd (ABN 61 632 454 525) (“HD Automotive”, “we”, “us”) when you order from hdautomotive.com.au. If you add it to your order and your goods are lost or damaged in transit, we will replace them or refund you under the terms below.
Shipping Protection is not an insurance policy. It is a promise from HD Automotive to you. We decide claims under these terms and we pay them ourselves. You deal only with us, never with an insurer or the carrier.
The short version
- It costs 2.5% of the value of the goods in your order. It is added at checkout and you can remove it before you pay.
- It covers goods that are lost or damaged while the carrier has them, from the time they leave our warehouse until the carrier records them as delivered.
- It does not cover anything that happens after the carrier marks your parcel delivered, including parcels left at your door and then taken.
- It does not cover delay, glass or panel items, or dangerous goods.
- Damage must be reported within 3 days of delivery, with photos. If the carton looks damaged when it arrives, write “damaged” on the delivery docket before you sign, or refuse it.
- A lost parcel is paid out once the carrier confirms to us in writing that it is lost. We lodge the enquiry and keep you updated.
- If we approve a claim, we send a replacement. If we can’t, we refund the goods, the freight and the protection fee.
1. What Shipping Protection is
1.1 Shipping Protection is an optional add-on to your order. When you buy it, we agree to replace or refund goods that are lost or damaged in transit, on the terms set out here.
1.2 These terms form part of our Terms and Conditions and our Shipping Policy. If these terms and the Shipping Policy say different things about a parcel that has Shipping Protection, these terms apply.
1.3 Nothing in these terms limits any right you have under the Australian Consumer Law. See section 13.
2. Buying Shipping Protection
2.1 Shipping Protection costs 2.5% of the value of the goods in your order, after any discounts and before freight. The fee is shown as a separate line at checkout.
2.2 Shipping Protection is pre-selected at checkout. You can remove it before you pay. If you remove it, section 12 applies to your order instead.
2.3 The fee is refunded in full if you cancel your order before we dispatch it. Once your order has been dispatched the fee is not refundable, including where your order is later returned for change of mind.
2.4 Shipping Protection applies to the whole order it was bought with. It cannot be bought for part of an order, or added after the order has been placed.
2.5 Some items cannot be protected. See section 5. If your order contains only items listed in section 5, do not add Shipping Protection. If it is charged on such an item by mistake, we will refund the fee for that item.
3. What is covered
Shipping Protection covers the following, subject to sections 4 to 11:
3.1 Lost in transit. The carrier has not recorded your parcel as delivered and has confirmed to us in writing that it cannot be located.
3.2 Damaged in transit. Your goods arrive physically damaged, and the damage happened while the carrier had them.
3.3 Short delivery. Your order was dispatched as more than one carton and one or more cartons has not arrived. A missing carton is treated as lost under section 7.
4. What is not covered
Shipping Protection does not cover:
(a) delay, late delivery or missed delivery dates, whatever the cause;
(b) anything that happens after the carrier records your parcel as delivered, including parcels left at the delivery address under an authority to leave or Safe Drop and then taken, damaged or destroyed (see section 6);
(c) parcels delivered to a freight forwarder, parcel locker, PO box, or a third party who accepts delivery on your behalf, once the carrier has delivered to that place or person;
(d) loss or damage caused by a wrong, incomplete or out-of-date delivery address that you gave us, including an old address saved on your account;
(e) goods that have been fitted, installed, used, modified or altered before you report the damage to us;
(f) damage that does not affect the function of the goods, where the item was supplied in packaging intended to be opened (for example, minor marks on an outer box);
(g) freight that you arranged yourself, freight on your own carrier account, or orders you collected from us or from a partner warehouse;
(h) import duties, taxes, customs charges, customs delays, seizure, refused or abandoned parcels, return freight or re-dispatch costs on international orders (see section 10);
(i) items listed in section 5;
(j) any loss other than the goods themselves. See section 9.4.
5. Items that cannot be protected
5.1 Shipping Protection does not apply to the following items, even if the fee was charged on them:
(a) glass, lamps, headlights, tail lights, mirrors, windscreens, windows, body panels, bonnets, doors, bumpers and other sheet-metal or fragile items;
(b) dangerous goods, including batteries of any kind, aerosols, fuels, oils, lubricants, coolants, brake fluid, paint, thinners, adhesives, airbags and airbag inflators, and any part containing or that has contained fuel, oil or other fluids.
5.2 Where an order contains both protected and unprotected items, Shipping Protection applies to the protected items only.
6. When protection starts and ends
6.1 Protection starts when your order leaves our warehouse, or the partner warehouse it is shipped from, in the carrier’s custody.
6.2 Protection ends when the carrier records your parcel as delivered. It does not matter whether a signature was collected.
6.3 Australia Post eParcel is an authority-to-leave service. TNT and Team Global Express may also leave parcels at residential addresses without a signature. Once a parcel is recorded as delivered, it is your responsibility and Shipping Protection no longer applies.
6.4 Signature on delivery is available as an option at checkout for an extra charge. If you want your parcel held for a signature rather than left, select it when you order. Where you have selected it and the carrier releases the parcel without collecting a signature, the parcel is not treated as delivered for the purpose of clause 6.2.
7. If your order does not arrive
7.1 You must tell us that your order, or a carton of it, has not arrived within 5 business days after the later of:
(a) the estimated delivery date shown in the carrier’s tracking; or
(b) the top of the delivery estimate for your destination on our Shipping Policy page.
7.2 Before contacting us, check the tracking, check with anyone else at the delivery address, and check any safe place or collection point the tracking refers to.
7.3 Once you report it, we will lodge an enquiry with the carrier within 2 business days. The enquiry is made on our carrier account. You do not need to contact the carrier, and for TNT, Team Global Express and DHL the carrier will not deal with you directly.
7.4 We will update you at least every 14 days while the enquiry is open, and we will send you the carrier’s written response when we receive it.
7.5 Your parcel is treated as lost, and your claim is approved, when the carrier confirms to us in writing that its enquiry is closed and the parcel cannot be located. We cannot approve a lost-parcel claim before then.
7.6 If the carrier locates and delivers your parcel after you report it, the claim ends. If a replacement has already been sent, you must return the original to us at our cost, and we may hold the value of the duplicate until it is returned.
7.7 If the carrier records your parcel as delivered, your claim is treated under section 6, not this section.
8. If your order arrives damaged
At the door
8.1 Look at the carton before you sign for it. If the carton is crushed, torn, wet, open or otherwise visibly damaged, you must either:
(a) write “damaged” on the carrier’s delivery docket or handheld device before signing; or
(b) refuse the delivery.
8.2 If you sign for a visibly damaged carton without noting the damage, we cannot accept a claim for that damage.
8.3 If the carrier leaves the parcel without a signature and the carton is visibly damaged, photograph it where it was left, before you move it.
After opening
8.4 Some damage cannot be seen from outside the carton. If you find damage on opening, you must report it to us within 3 days of the date the carrier recorded delivery.
8.5 Stop unpacking as soon as you see the damage. Photograph the outer carton, the shipping label, the internal packing and the damage before you go further.
8.6 Damage reported after the 3-day window cannot be accepted, because the carriers will not accept our claim after that.
What to send us
8.7 To make a damage claim, email hello@hdautomotive.com.au with:
(a) your order number;
(b) photos of the outer carton, the shipping label, the internal packing and the damaged item;
(c) a copy of the delivery docket or a photo of the note you made on it, if the damage was visible at delivery;
(d) a short description of the damage.
9. What you will receive
9.1 Replacement first. If we approve your claim, we will send you the same item at our cost, including the freight on the replacement.
9.2 Refund if we can’t replace. If the item is out of stock and cannot be re-supplied within a reasonable time, or has been discontinued, we will refund:
(a) the price you paid for the item, after any discounts;
(b) the freight you paid on the original order, in proportion to the affected item; and
(c) the Shipping Protection fee you paid on the affected item.
9.3 Partial damage. If the item is damaged but still usable, we may offer a partial refund or a repair instead of a replacement. You can decline that offer, in which case we will replace the item.
9.4 What we do not pay. Shipping Protection pays for the goods only. We do not pay for fitting or removal labour, workshop time, vehicle downtime, hire cars, towing, lost income, travel, or any other cost or loss that flows from the goods being lost or damaged.
9.5 Refunds are made to the original payment method where available, otherwise by EFT to an account you nominate.
9.6 There is no excess and no cap. The full value of the protected goods in your order is covered.
10. International orders
10.1 All international orders ship with DHL Express. Shipping Protection on an international order covers loss and damage from dispatch until DHL records the parcel as delivered at your address.
10.2 It does not cover customs seizure or delay, import duties, taxes, levies or brokerage fees, parcels refused or abandoned because charges were not paid, return freight, or re-dispatch. Those remain your responsibility as set out on our International Shipping page.
10.3 If you are in New Zealand, note that NZ Customs calculates GST on the value of the goods plus shipping plus any protection fee.
11. Evidence and cooperation
11.1 Keep the damaged item and all of its packaging, inner and outer, for 30 days from the date you report the damage, or until we tell you in writing that it can be disposed of, whichever is later. The carrier may send someone to inspect it. If you dispose of the item or packaging before then, we cannot accept the claim.
11.2 We may ask you to make the item available for inspection, to return it to us at our cost, or to give us further photos or information. If you do not, we may decline the claim.
11.3 Do not attempt to repair the item before we have assessed the claim.
11.4 Claims must come from the person who placed the order. If someone else received the parcel, please have the order holder contact us.
11.5 One claim per order. Our decision on a claim, once you have accepted a replacement, repair or refund, is final for that order.
12. If you did not buy Shipping Protection
12.1 Under our Terms and Conditions, risk in the goods passes to you once they leave our warehouse. If your order is lost or damaged in transit and you did not buy Shipping Protection, we will not replace or refund the goods from our own pocket.
12.2 We will still lodge a trace or damage claim with the carrier on your behalf, on our account, and pass on to you anything the carrier pays. What the carriers pay without extra cover is small. In most cases it is a refund of the freight charge, or for Australia Post, up to $100 paid to the receiver.
12.3 If you are a consumer under the Australian Consumer Law, your rights under that law are not affected by whether you bought Shipping Protection. See section 13.
13. Your rights under the Australian Consumer Law
13.1 Our goods come with guarantees that cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law. Nothing in these terms excludes, restricts or modifies those guarantees or any other right you have under that law.
13.2 Shipping Protection is offered in addition to those rights, not instead of them.
14. General
14.1 We may change these terms at any time. The terms that apply to your order are the ones published at the time you placed it.
14.2 These terms are governed by the laws of Queensland, Australia.
14.3 Questions about Shipping Protection or a claim: hello@hdautomotive.com.au, or the Text Us button on our website.