This article explains the mechanics behind Onward Checkout+ — how protection is activated, what happens when something goes wrong, and how claims are resolved.
The Protection Premium
When a customer adds Checkout+ to their order, a small protection premium is added to their cart. This premium is what activates coverage for their order.
How It's Calculated
The premium is a percentage of the cart value. The exact percentage is set during your Onward onboarding and depends on your store's category and configuration. It appears as a line item in the cart (the "Checkout+" or "Package Protection" product on Shopify).
Price Tiers
The premium uses price tiers — as the cart value increases, the premium adjusts in steps. There's also a minimum and maximum premium amount so the cost stays reasonable for both small and large orders.
What It Covers
A single premium covers the entire order. All items in the order are protected against the covered causes (lost, stolen, damaged, and so on), up to the order's covered value.
When Protection Is Active
An order is considered protected when:
The customer opted in to Checkout+ during checkout (the premium line item is in the order), or
The merchant purchased protection on behalf of the customer (merchant-funded protection)
Protection remains available for as long as the order's claim submission window is open. That window is not a single fixed number — it depends on what went wrong, and in some cases on whether the shipment was international. The exact rules and current defaults live in What Are Claims & When Can Customers File? — deliberately not repeated here so there's only one place to check. Once the window closes, new claims can no longer be filed for that order.
The Claim Process
When something goes wrong with a protected order, the customer opens the claim link from their Onward welcome email (or goes straight to the claims page), finds their order, describes what happened, picks the affected items, uploads any required photos, chooses how they'd like it resolved, and submits.
For the screen-by-screen version of that flow — including what the customer sees at each step and the messages shown when they aren't eligible — see The Customer Claims Experience.
Sample Claims Flow:
How Claims Are Resolved
Claims are resolved in one of several ways:
Resolution | What Happens |
Reorder | A new Shopify order is created with the same items, fully discounted. The customer receives a new shipment at no extra cost. |
Refund | The customer's original payment method is refunded. |
Store Credit | A Shopify gift card is issued to the customer. Some stores offer a bonus percentage on store credit (for example, 10% more than a cash refund). |
Timings and the finer detail of each option are documented in Claim Resolutions.
Customer Notification
After resolution, the customer receives an email confirming the outcome — whether it's a reorder confirmation, refund notification, or store credit with a discount code.
What Happens Behind the Scenes (Merchant Perspective)
Premiums are collected on each protected order and tracked in your Onward billing.
Claims are paid out from Onward when resolved — the merchant is credited for the cost of reorders, refunds, or store credit.
Revenue share — You earn a percentage of the premiums collected. This is settled on a regular billing cycle.
Settlements — Onward invoices net out premiums collected minus claims paid out, reward credits, and other charges.
You can view all of this in your Onward merchant dashboard under the billing and orders sections.
Merchant-Funded Protection
In some configurations, merchants can purchase protection on behalf of their customers. This means every order is automatically covered without the customer needing to opt in. The merchant pays the premium, and customers still get the full protection and claims experience.