How To Ship Important Documents Through Courier?

Ex of Valuable documents

By important documents we mean, original documents which cannot be replaced. These documents may be crucial and sensitive in nature which may or may not be reconstructed. Documents like KYC (individual or a company) including, Driving License, Aadhar Card, Passport, Pan Card, Voter Id etc, Company Registration Certificates, Business Agreement Papers, MOUs, NDAs etc, Negotiable Banking Documents like Cheques, Debit or Credit Cards, Bank Draft, Bill of exchange etc.Student Documents like Original Marks Sheets, Graduation or PG Certificates, Convocation Certificates etc. Sending important documents through courier not only needs proper packaging but needs greatest care in choosing the courier partner as well else there are high possibilities of misusing these documents by others.

Sometimes when you move to bigger cities for your own reasons, it becomes necessary to send or receive some of the important documents from other cities. Since few of the documents such as passport, marks cards cannot be replaced, utmost precautions have to be taken in order to ship it safely. Since the chances of theft are more likely in case of shipping ATM cards, cheques or any other bank documents, make sure you are packing it safely.

Packaging material such as tamper-proof bags is highly recommended for sending any kind of valuable documents as it cannot be opened easily once it is sealed. One has to tear the tamper-proof bag in order to open it and hence it becomes easy to track if the package is misused. Only a few of the courier companies forward important documents at shipper's risk.

Below are some of the ways in which you can ship few of the important documents-

1.Cheques:

Sending cheques through courier is risky as it could be exploited by anyone who encounters it. Hence while shipping cheques from one state to another you need to follow certain criteria which has to be fulfilled before shipping. Some of the prerequisites which will help you from misusing the cheque are as mentioned below:

1.Make sure you are not sending an open cheque i.e, any blank cheque which is signed.

2.A blank cheque which is not signed can be sent.

3.If in case you want to send cheque specifying to whom it should be sent, then make sure you cross the cheque before sending i.e. mention account payee.

**Packaging Cheque:

Step 1: Place the cheque in a plastic envelope and seal the opening.

Step 2: Take a tamper-proof bag of an approximately similar size that of the plastic envelope and insert it carefully inside it.

Step 3: Seal the mouth of the bag by the adhesive strip provided on top of the tamper-proof bag.

Step 4: Insert the shipping label generated while booking the courier.

You can write “DO NOT FOLD” if necessary on the top of the tamper-proof bag using a permanent marker.

2. Passport:

Only handful of reputed courier companies ship passport to limited pin codes within India, as it is one such document which cannot be replaced or re-created again easily. Some of the points to remember while shipping passport are:

1.You can send passport from one state to another within India and cannot be sent abroad by courier since it is considered illegal as it might be used by radicals for illegal activities.

2.Take a photocopy of the passport before sending it, so that you are prepared for the worst situation.

3.Some courier companies accept the canceled passport with proper paper works.

4.You can carry passport only while you are personally traveling abroad.

**You can follow the similar procedure that of packaging cheques for the passport as well.

3. ATM Card:

If you want to send documents such as ATM card through courier then make sure you are choosing a trusted courier partner. Since shipping ATM is little risky, and only a few of the courier companies provide service for it. ATM can be couriered only in below situations:

1.ATM card without pin can be sent through courier within India.

2.For international shipping of ATM card through courier, you will have to first deactivate the card and then take a letter from the bank on the same and submit it to your courier partner with whom you are shipping.

**Packing ATM card is similar to that of the cheque. Do not forget to write “DO NOT FOLD” on the package so that the card doesn’t get damaged.

4. Original University Marks Cards:

Original marks cards are very important documents which are hard to develop again if misplaced, damaged or lost. Hence utmost care must be taken while shipping it. Ensure that:

1.You have taken color photocopies or scanned copies of it before shipping, as it might be helpful if in case any mishap happens to your documents.

2.Write “DO NOT FOLD” with permanent marker on top of the package as some of the marks cards may be laminated and folding the package may damage it.

**Similar steps of packing can be reproduced to pack marks cards as that of the cheque for shipping.

5. Passbook:

You can ship bank passbook through a courier company. Since the passbook contains information only about your account number, IFSC Code and your transactions, the chances of it getting misused is less until it's misused by a known person who can forgery your signature. But make sure you are packing it properly so that it does not get damaged or stolen while shipping. You can pack it similar to that of the cheque as mentioned above.

In certain situations, it becomes obligatory to ship important documents. In such cases, you can take certain safety measures to ship it so that it reaches the destination safely. Approach your courier partner to know about the documents or articles for which they have service.