ACH or mail?

andre5006

I online send two payments for home/auto insurance - the home was taking more the a week longer to process! Asked vendor why - they said one was transmitted electronically (ACH?) the other a check in the mail. Is that something I control?

Frankx

Hi @andre5006,

From the process you've described, I believe that you are using your bank to make the payments (i.e. you're not using Quicken Bill Pay). 

So, let's check how the payments are setup in Q:  
From your home screen - Go to "Bills" > "Manage Bill & Income Reminders" > Click on the "All Bills & Deposits" tab at the top > then click on the column title "Pay To / Receive From" so that it is sorted alphabetically.
page down until you get to your insurance company's name.

I think you will likely see two entries. If that is the case. I would suggest (based on the info you've provided above) that you delete the entry that is being paid through a mailed check.  This will leave you with only one "payee" for your insurance company - the one that is being paid electronically. 

Assuming that you have had these payments scheduled in Q, deleting the one payee will only leave you with one reminder, so you'll need to edit that payee's "how often" information to get a reminder for both payments going forward.

How the above make sense - but if not just get back to me.

Take care & stay safe!

Frankx

UKR

Are you paying to the same company, using the exact same address or two different addresses?
I'm guessing that one address is known to the bill pay service and the other is not, therefore a check is generated.

Frankx

Hi @andre5006,

I think you probably understand that "sending" a payment electronically will take less time than sending a payment by US Mail (and when I say "sending" I am including not just the transmittal time but also the manual processing activity & time involved).  Obviously, if we are using an intermediary to make payments we can't "control" either process (unless of course they give you a choice - and from your post it is obvious you didn't have one).

However, what you could do would be to change insurance providers for the policy that requires a manual check from Quicken.  You might even consider bundling your home & auto insurance with the "electronic carrier" which could save you on the premium as well!

Good luck.

Frankx

Sherlock

The receiver of the funds has some control over whether sender is able to successfully transfer funds electronically or must fallback to sending a check.  For example, the receiver can set an amount limit for the electronic transfer.

andre5006

Thanks all. Yes the payments are to the same receiver - my insurance company (AAA via CSAA) and the addresses are the same (policies are bundled - payments are not). Essential question is: who can I 'poke' to initiate a move from mail to electronic payments for the one policy?

Frankx

HI @andre5066,

Are you using Quicken Bill Pay (or the new Bill Manager) to make the payments, or are you using your bank's bill payment service?

It sounds like it could be a bill payer set-up issue.

Frankx

andre5006

Hi Frankx, (as a long time Quicken user, I'm embarrassed to say I don't exactly know) - I open the account check-book, on the next open line I click "Send online payment" and write the check... Does that help - so what's my answer to your question? :)

Frankx

Hi @andre5006,

From the process you've described, I believe that you are using your bank to make the payments (i.e. you're not using Quicken Bill Pay). 

So, let's check how the payments are setup in Q:  
From your home screen - Go to "Bills" > "Manage Bill & Income Reminders" > Click on the "All Bills & Deposits" tab at the top > then click on the column title "Pay To / Receive From" so that it is sorted alphabetically.
page down until you get to your insurance company's name.

I think you will likely see two entries. If that is the case. I would suggest (based on the info you've provided above) that you delete the entry that is being paid through a mailed check.  This will leave you with only one "payee" for your insurance company - the one that is being paid electronically. 

Assuming that you have had these payments scheduled in Q, deleting the one payee will only leave you with one reminder, so you'll need to edit that payee's "how often" information to get a reminder for both payments going forward.

How the above make sense - but if not just get back to me.

Take care & stay safe!

Frankx