Is it leagal to charge a fee for paying in cash?

I just got car insurance through PLPD. I brought cash with me when I went to sign up. They said this time is fine because it is your first time, but next time, we're going to charge you $2 for paying in cash. Is this legal? I thought somewhere it's written that cash is king. Help me out here people.


BTW, I live in Michigan and I'd like your sources.

Is it leagal to charge a fee for paying in cash?
I just checked on the front of a $5 bill. Below the United States Federal Reserve System Seal "This is legal tender for all debts, public and private" This same statement is on all American paper currency.





What I would do is drop this company like a hot potato. If they give this much trouble about paying with money, just think about what kind of nightmare it would be to make a claim.





Find a different insurance company ASAP!
Reply:Were they serious ? I've never heard of such a thing. If it is true you may want to change to a different insurance company. And you probably can rule out the company whose agent has posted just above me. I wonder if some of these people charging a fee to accept cash ever heard of a good old capitalistic term called "The cost of doing business" ?
Reply:i would not be doing business with such an organization
Reply:BS!! there trying to pull a fast one on ya. If they say that next time, just get up and walk out. What they want is for u to pay with a check so they can do automatic withdraw if need-bee
Reply:Pull out any US bill. Look at the face (the side with the picture of a dead person) and read what it says on the left side, towards the top on $1 and towards the bottom on others.





See it? "This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private." I kid people occasionally and tell them "I'll need to see some ID if you're using cash" but that is a joke. Cash rules. There's no way to put a stop payment on cash.





I suppose some company could make some stupid rule that they will charge if you pay in person with cash, but if I were told that, I would walk out the door and find someone with better customer service skills.





Now, the opposite is true. Some businesses will offer a discount for using cash. You find that mostly in fuel stations where the price is set to reflect credit card use, and since none of the credit card companies will allow a business to charge to accept a card (even though it costs the business) some get around it by giving a cash discount. It amounts to the same thing, a charge for using a credit card of course, but the wording allows them to do it.





Is it legal to charge a fee? Probably. It's illegal to refuse to accept cash, but I don't think it's illegal to charge a fee for doing so. Stupid perhaps, but not illegal.
Reply:no, they can not charge you for paying in cash.


even if you pay in pennies..they must accept it.





this has been to court more than once
Reply:The reason they charge you as fee is because they have to take that to the bank to deposit it as opposed to transferring your funds electronically.


Also, some offices prefer not to have cash on hand as no one is likely to steal credit card receipts as they are cash.





So it's partly for security, partly for ease, and partly to get more money out of you for not having credit or depbit cards.
Reply:You cannot be charged extra for paying in cash. Cash is legal tender and cannot be refused. However, you may not get service if you don't follow the rules, so if you have to pay a service charge ask to speak to the Manager, or pay the fee and write a letter asking for reimbursement. As the first answerer said, legal tender must be accepted for any debt. If you don't get the fee waived, tell the proprietor you will be discussing the issue with a lawyer. They will usually relent.
Reply:Ya know, I don't think it is. Whatever happened to, "legal tender for all debts public and private"?





But I HAVE been hearing about some agencies charging, because of the extra exposure about having cash laying around. It's all about discouraging the use of cash.





But I don't think it's constitutional, myself.
Reply:In Texas, (pay attention - mbrcatz17), the legislature passed a law that allows an agent/agency to charge a fee for services. This fee has to be disclosed at point of sale and a form signed by the consumer.





An insurance company sends the customer a bill, which they expect the customer to pay - and the customer is then expected to either MAIL his payment to the company or arrange to have his payment drafted from his bank account.





My agency deals with a lot of folks that don't have checking accounts, so, they come to my office wanting to make their payment in person. Most do NOT bring their bill with them, so, it takes customer service rep's time and effort to stop what they are doing, look up amount due, call the company if there is a question or go on-line to determine payment required or if policy is still active, take a payment, hope we have enough cash on hand to take their $100 bill for a $40 monthly payment, receipt the transaction, and then try to remember what they were doing before the customer came in.





We instruct our customers to bring a money order instead of cash. I know some agents that have signs posted NO CASH IN OFFICE (seems like they have been robbed at gun-point a couple of times.)





We have NOT resorted to charging for monthly payments but some agents charge $2.00 for ANY payment made in their office - be it cash, check OR money order. We charge an initial agency fee that hopefully covers all of the extra service that we provide.





So, the SHORT answer is, it WOULD be legal to charge a fee for taking cash (or for any other disclosed reason), depending on State law - just depends on where you are living.





Good luck and I hope this helps!
Reply:CHECK WITH THE BOARD OF INSURANCE WHICH IS ON LINE AND TELL THEM ABOUT WHAT HAPPEN TO YOU BECAUSE IT MAKES NO SINCE.