How to Complete and Mail the Continental Express Money Order Claim Form

To file a Continental Express money order claim form, download it from continentalexpressmoneyorders.com/claim-form, complete and sign it, and mail it with your original money order stub, a copy of your government-issued ID, and an $18.00 processing fee (paid by money order) to Continental Express Money Order Company Inc., P.O. Box 10970, Santa Ana, CA 92711. Refunds take 45 to 60 days once the company receives a properly completed packet.¹

What to Gather Before You File

Continental Express rejects incomplete submissions, and each rejection adds weeks to the timeline. Put the full packet together before you sit down with the form.

The original money order stub. This is the detachable receipt you got at purchase, and photocopies are not accepted. The stub carries the serial number, dollar amount, and purchase date the company uses to find your transaction.¹
A photocopy of your driver’s license or other government-issued ID.¹
A copy of the money order itself, if you happen to have one. It is not required, but it speeds up the investigation.
An $18.00 processing fee, paid by money order made payable to Continental Express Money Order Company Inc. Cash and personal checks are explicitly rejected.¹

If you no longer have the original stub, your options narrow. The company’s written instructions do not name any substitute, so call customer service at 1-800-640-4042 before mailing anything to ask what they can accept in its place.²

Filling Out the Form

Download the current form from the Continental Express website.¹ Only the original purchaser whose name appears on the money order may complete and sign it. A spouse, relative, or the intended payee cannot file for you. If more than one money order is missing, use a separate signed form for each.

The form asks for the serial number from the stub, the dollar amount, the date of purchase, your name as purchaser, and the name of the intended payee. Copy every number exactly as it appears on the stub. A single transposed digit in the serial number can cause the company’s system to return no match, which delays or kills the claim. Type the form or print clearly, then sign and date at the bottom. An unsigned form comes back, and the processing clock does not start until Continental Express has a complete, signed version in hand.

Paying the $18.00 Processing Fee

Every claim carries an $18.00 non-refundable fee per money order.¹ You do not get this money back whether the claim results in a refund or a denial. It covers the manual work of searching the company’s clearing records to see whether the original instrument was cashed.

Pay with a separate money order made payable to “Continental Express Money Order Company Inc.” Cash and personal checks are not accepted, and including either will stop the claim from being processed.¹ The website does not list credit cards, debit cards, or any electronic option, so plan to buy a money order for the fee at a retail location before assembling your packet.

Where to Mail the Packet

Send everything to:

Continental Express Money Order Company Inc.
P.O. Box 10970
Santa Ana, CA 92711¹

Use USPS certified mail with a return receipt. The tracking number gives you proof the packet arrived and the exact delivery date, both of which matter if you ever need to follow up on a stalled claim. Before you seal the envelope, photocopy the completed form, both sides of your ID copy, the stub, and the fee money order. Keep those copies in a dedicated folder in case anything goes missing or the company asks you to resubmit.

Timeline and Possible Outcomes

Continental Express states that refunds take up to 45 to 60 days to process. The clock starts when the company receives a properly completed form, not when you drop it in the mailbox. If the form was not filled out properly, the refund is delayed beyond the standard window.¹ In practice, that usually means the paperwork is mailed back for corrections and you lose another round-trip through the mail.

Two outcomes are possible:

If the money order was not cashed, Continental Express issues a refund check or replacement money order sent to the address on your claim form.
If the money order was already cashed, you receive a photocopy of the cashed instrument showing the endorsement and where it was deposited, rather than a refund.¹

One boundary is worth knowing before you file: Continental Express does not issue stop payments or cancellations.¹ The claim process is a refund investigation, not a way to freeze a money order still in circulation. If a stolen money order is about to be cashed, the claim form will not prevent that.

If the Photocopy Shows It Was Already Cashed

Getting a photocopy instead of money is frustrating, but the copy itself is evidence. The endorsement on the back identifies who cashed the money order and often the bank or check-cashing store that processed it. If the person who cashed it was not your intended payee, that photocopy is the foundation of a police report for theft or fraud.

Under the Uniform Commercial Code, a person or business that cashed a stolen money order may qualify as a “holder in due course” if they took it for value, in good faith, and without notice that anything was wrong.³ A holder in due course can enforce payment on the instrument even after a claim is filed. In that situation, your recovery runs through the person who stole or misused the money order, not through Continental Express or the bank that cashed it. A police report and a local attorney are the practical next steps.

Following Up on a Stalled Claim

If more than 60 days pass with no response, call Continental Express customer service at 1-800-640-4042 with your certified mail tracking number and the serial number of the missing money order.² Having both numbers ready lets the representative locate your file on the first call rather than asking you to send anything again.

1
Continental Express Money Order Company Inc. Claim Form
2
Continental Express Money Order Company Inc. Contact Us
3
Legal Information Institute (LII). UCC 3-302 – Holder in Due Course