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What is a deliverability guarantee?

Also called: bounce replacement guarantee, email list guarantee, Deliverability Rate Guarantee

A deliverability guarantee is a data provider's promise that a stated share of the emails it supplies will not hard-bounce, usually backed by replacing or crediting any addresses that do.

By John Britton, VP of Marketing, MedicalProspects · Updated November 4, 2026 · Email & Deliverability

Why it matters for healthcare sales and marketing

A guarantee shifts some of the risk of bad data back to the provider, and shows they expect their verification to hold up. For procurement and marketing leaders it is one of the easiest ways to compare vendors, as long as you read what it actually covers.

How it works

  • The threshold. Usually a percentage of delivered emails that won't hard-bounce.
  • The remedy. Replacement records, credits or refunds for addresses that bounce.
  • The conditions. How soon you must report bounces, what evidence is needed, and what is excluded.

Deliverability guarantees cover bounces. They don't promise inbox placement, opens or replies, which depend on your content, sending setup and reputation.

Three parts of a deliverability guarantee: the threshold, the remedy and the conditions, with a note that it covers bounces, not inbox placement.
Read all three parts of a guarantee. It covers bounces, not inbox placement or engagement.

Example

Illustrative scenario. A procurement team compares two providers. Both advertise a guarantee, but only one replaces hard bounces one-for-one with no minimum claim size. The team asks both for the written terms, checks the reporting window, and factors the remedy into the cost comparison.

Common mistakes

  • Confusing deliverability with inbox placement. A delivered email can still go to spam.
  • Not reading the conditions. Check the reporting window and exclusions.
  • Waiting months to send. Guarantees are based on delivery-time verification; data decays after that.
  • Not keeping bounce logs. You'll need them to make a claim.

How MedicalProspects does it

Every MedicalProspects order carries a 99% deliverability guarantee: report hard-bounced emails and they are replaced one-for-one.

Related terms

  • Bounce Rate (Hard and Soft Bounces)Bounce rate is the share of sent emails that were returned as undeliverable. Hard bounces are permanent failures, such as an address that doesn't exist; soft bounces are temporary, such as a full mailbox or a server that is briefly unavailable.
  • Email VerificationEmail verification is checking that an email address is correctly formed, belongs to a domain that accepts mail, and points to a mailbox that exists, before you send to it. For healthcare lists it also means confirming the address still belongs to the right person in the right role.
  • Sender ReputationSender reputation is how mailbox providers such as Gmail and Outlook judge the trustworthiness of your sending domain and IP addresses, based on signals like spam complaints, bounces, spam trap hits, engagement and authentication.
  • Email Engagement RateEmail engagement rate measures how recipients interact with your emails, usually through open, click and reply rates. For B2B healthcare outreach, clicks and replies are more reliable than opens.

Put it to work

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