Who takes cash and does not require money orders?

[CSRQueen]

We begrudgingly accept cash, checks, money orders - everything except credit/debit cards. I say begrudgingly not so much because it's a security issue but because it's a real PITA when someone needs change. We keep very little cash on hand and when we need to make change we sometimes have a tough time doing that. Also, because of our structure, we then have to make a deposit slip out, get a bank bag together, lock the bank bag up & send it with a courier to the bank. Then, if the payment isn't to a carrier that we're set up to do electronic sweeps from our agency account, we have to do a Check Request Form, send it to accounting to cut us a check, wait the few days for the check and then mail it out to the carrier. I'm exhausted just thinking about it! Thankfully, we've got sweeps set up for most of them and rarely have a problem with NSF items when we get paid with checks, although it does happen.

About 90% of our book is direct bill and we encourage EFT whenever possible, but alot of people especially our older clients don't like that. I would say a very large portion just mail their payments in direct to the carrier. We do still have the tried & true clients who come in every single renewal to give us cash, though. Some of the ones who used to pay cash we've convinced to bring us a check or money order by telling them we're a little afraid to keep that much cash on hand. Most of these clients understand that & are very willing to bring us what we need. We keep them happy & they try to keep us happy. Our theory on the whole issue with taking cash/check/whatever is that however they pay, they pay.

I did work at an agency a few years ago that accepted cash but charged a $5.00 "handling fee" because of the inconvenience to the agency. I never agreed with it & always "forgot" to charge the client. There's a reason I don't work there any more

[etimer]

Oh, I was under the assumption that we were talking agency billing. Oops.

So what we are discussing, if I have this straight, is direct billing (not agency billing) and the people make checks out to the agency?

<<by meytai on Tue Jul 01, 2008 3:30 pm

etimer wrote:
Take cash? No.

I guess somebody needs to service that side of the business. I once knew a guy that had a downtown agency and accepted cash. I watched all the BS he went through with the constant cancellation notices, etc. and said to myself....I would never start engaging in that clientele. More power to him.

He didn't start out that way. He had been in the same location for 35 years and what was once a good neighborhood changed during his 35 years. He ended up with people that lived on a shoestring budget and depended on that monthly government check.

But then I am still amazed that there are agencies that don't want to participate in direct billing.

You are talking about something else

This is direct billing.. just that they come in the office to pay

I think you are also talkin about preferred versus non-standard.>>

[chill]

I can't believe that anyone still takes cash regardless of the size of the town or agency. Or that they still take direct bill payments. Your clientele needs to be trained to pay their bills on time. Obviously, I don't deal with Personal Lines, but the only cash we take is the initial down payment on new business, after that, they are on their own. Wonder who collects their "cash payment" for their gas, electric, phone bills? Insured's need to learn that insurance payments are no different than utility bills - don't pay, no service!

[wlunday]

Hey, Chill... you just don't get it.

We want our clients to come in. This is a "hands-on" approach to marketing. Every time we get to see a client we ask about changes in their family, any new "toys" (that need insurance), and ask for referrals. We have also been increasing our "life" side sales... long-term care insurance, group plans, as well as traditional life and disability plans. Oh, and did I mention that we actively seek referrals? It works very well for us. These are not deadbeats that are late. They are great, preferred market clients that have an old-school attitude about their business. Our cross-selling is well above average according to the company reps, and the retention is very high.

Like I mentioned earlier... it's not for everybody. Many larger agencies cannot afford to spend the personal time with their clients in this way. That's OK, too. There is certainly more than one successful business model to follow. We just happen to like this one.

Swymmer

[mhutch69]

This was my original post and I will explain further to help clarify. I write personal lines non-std auto and cleary encourage our clients to pay within our office each month rather than NOT paying at all. This is typically the choice as most do not have benefit of banking facilities due to past actions.

Therefore, we accept monthly and down payments in our office in the form of money order, certified check, etc. but NOT cash. The primary reason for not accepting cash is getting the office ripped off by someone who notices all the cash payments we accept.

The real purpose was my question regarding agencies still accepting cash payments. I purposely locate my offices near payday loan stores which sell money orders and provide them for my clients who submit them to me.

(we also charge a [b]fee[/b] for acceptance, deposit, direct debit by the company, and bank reconciliation charges plus bank fees for all actions related)

[meytai]

We begrudgingly accept cash, checks, money orders - everything except credit/debit cards. I say begrudgingly not so much because it's a security issue but because it's a real PITA when someone needs change. We keep very little cash on hand and when we need to make change we sometimes have a tough time doing that. Also, because of our structure, we then have to make a deposit slip out, get a bank bag together, lock the bank bag up & send it with a courier to the bank. Then, if the payment isn't to a carrier that we're set up to do electronic sweeps from our agency account, we have to do a Check Request Form, send it to accounting to cut us a check, wait the few days for the check and then mail it out to the carrier. I'm exhausted just thinking about it! Thankfully, we've got sweeps set up for most of them and rarely have a problem with NSF items when we get paid with checks, although it does happen.

About 90% of our book is direct bill and we encourage EFT whenever possible, but alot of people especially our older clients don't like that. I would say a very large portion just mail their payments in direct to the carrier. We do still have the tried & true clients who come in every single renewal to give us cash, though. Some of the ones who used to pay cash we've convinced to bring us a check or money order by telling them we're a little afraid to keep that much cash on hand. Most of these clients understand that & are very willing to bring us what we need. We keep them happy & they try to keep us happy. Our theory on the whole issue with taking cash/check/whatever is that however they pay, they pay.

I did work at an agency a few years ago that accepted cash but charged a $5.00 "handling fee" because of the inconvenience to the agency. I never agreed with it & always "forgot" to charge the client. There's a reason I don't work there any more

Hey CSR queen,

Much like you, i did not agree with a $5 "convenience fee" that we charged. On top of the billing fee that the company charges, we charge $5 more? I eliminated that fee for a year and some change.. but then i started to see the WORK involved in reconciling the trust account.. it consumes a lot of time.. plus the paper and ink that is used to print the receipts. We started charging $1 for it.. but now we've upped it to $3. I would prefer that customers be on EFT... these customers are preferred because you never hear from them.. they rarely make changes/endorsements on their policy (typically). Like someone else mentioned.. it's a great opportunity to cross-sell and get updated on clients

[Rochambeau]

Don't have time to read all of the responses, but thought I'd put in my 2-cents because it may contain something that other entries do not (read on...).

We take cash, although my dad was a State Farm agent and did not to avoid armed robbery.

One reason we LIKE to receive cash is when we take in cash, we turn around and pay the bill online with a "Trust Account Only" credit card account that we have (as long as the carrier does not charge a fee for credit card payments). Why do this? Miles, baby, miles! We rack them up at no cost to us. Because our Trust card is through the same company as our Business card, we are able to combine the miles and get thousands upon thousands every month.

Of course, each employee keeps a log of all the payments they do. Noone actually receives a physical card, I keep them all. They only have the pertinent information printed on their log. When the statement arrives, we write one check to the credit card company, done!

We don't however take checks made out to the agency because of NSF issues. Although we do make exceptions for existing clients who have a clean payment history.

[meytai]

What an interesting idea.. wow.. glad you put your 2 cents in