How long do you have to file a late-delivery refund claim?
Fifteen calendar days for both FedEx and UPS — but they count from different events, which is what trips people up. FedEx requires notice within 15 calendar days of the invoice date. UPS requires the refund request within 15 calendar days of the scheduled delivery date. For the same late package, the UPS clock usually starts first and expires first.
Verified against FedEx published terms on September 11, 2026 and UPS published terms on September 11, 2026.
The two clocks are not the same clock
Both carriers publish a 15-day window, which makes it look like one rule. It is not.
- FedEx — Notice required within 15 calendar days of the invoice date. The clock starts when the invoice carrying that shipment is issued.
- UPS — Refund requests must be made within 15 calendar days of the scheduled delivery date, or of the date UPS amends the recorded delivery time, whichever is later. The clock starts when the package was scheduled to arrive, which is typically days or weeks before you are invoiced for it.
The practical consequence: a UPS shipment can become unclaimable before its invoice has even posted, if nobody is watching delivery performance independently of billing. Waiting for the invoice is a workable habit with FedEx and a costly one with UPS.
Why a monthly review does not work
Invoices post weekly. A 15-day window against a monthly review means roughly half of every month’s eligible claims expire before anyone looks at them, and the oldest ones expire first. A quarterly review recovers almost nothing.
This is also why the one-off “free audit” offer is worth less than it sounds. A single backward-looking pass can only claim whatever happens to still be inside the window on the day it runs.
Which shipments are even eligible
The deadline only matters for services that still carry a guarantee, and that list has moved repeatedly in the past year. See the current FedEx status and the current UPS status before assuming a late shipment is claimable.