Mailing Cash: What Happens If It Never Arrives?
Sending paper money by post is risky, and once it disappears there is little you can do to recover it. If you must do it anyway, understanding a few options can limit the damage.
By Avery Hill
If cash sent in the mail gets lost, it is gone forever — unless the package is insured.
Putting cash in an envelope and dropping it in the mail is not a recommended way to pay anyone. If there is no other choice, you are accepting a real risk. Letters and parcels do go missing from time to time, and when currency is inside, recovery is usually not possible.
How Money Goes Missing
Several things can cause a cash-carrying envelope to disappear, leaving you out the amount you sent. It might be delivered to the wrong address, a recipient could claim the payment never arrived, or the item could simply be lost somewhere in the postal system.
Insuring the Shipment
Purchasing insurance is one route to potentially recovering the full value of what you mail. When you insure the amount you are sending, you gain the ability to track the item and to file a claim with the post office for the covered sum.
Other Ways to Pay
When credit cards, debit cards or checks are not an option for making a payment, ask the post office about buying a money order. You will pay a modest fee for it, but the item can be tracked, you can obtain proof that it was received, and if the money order is lost you have a way to get your funds back.
