Debt Collectors: On the Inside

With thanks to Onthebrink, who worked as a staff member (called Account Managers or Debt Collectors in the industry) and as a Supervisor from 1992 - 2005.

Training:

I was allocated to a client account (Halifax). It was my responsibility to collect as much money for the Halifax as possible. If my memory is correct I had in excess of 4000 accounts on file.

When I started I received two days 'on the job' training. This revolved around three pimary objectives.

1) get them to pay....something.

2) obtain as much information from the debtor and document it on the system.

3) Assess the likelyhood that objective 1 can be achieved through the use of objective 2.

I was provided a script that should be followed verbatim. In bold letters was the sentence 'NEVER TRUST A DEBTOR'. There was a number of responses to key 'excuses' put forward by the debtor, i.e -

- 'I cannot afford to pay this' = response, 'you will need to resolve this Mrs X or you will have to appear in court.' (fear tactic)

- 'go on then, take me to court' = response 'Mrs Y, if a CCJ is issued the court can instruct the bailiffs to seize your goods.'

Throughout my 2 day training I was never told about legislation, or the requirements under the CCA, etc. Such information was irrelevant. The only exception to this was regarding CCJs. If a debtor stated they already had a CCJ we were required to check the credit file of the individual at his last two addresses. If a CCJ was registered we were to send the account to a supervisor for determination.

If a debtor gave information that was 'out of the norm' (legislation, etc.) we were required to pass the account to a supervisor.

When you are a DCA staff member you are required to collect as much money as possible. On the wall of the office was an tv screen that detailed the recovered amount per 'client' (Halifax) for the proceeding day. It was the first thing that the staff checked when they arrived at 8am.

Payment/Letter Processing

When you send a letter or cheque they are opened and the chq/cash/debit card instruction are processed by a Finance asst. They would update the finance section of the debtor records. Any letters were passed to the 'account manager' (staff member but it sounded more senior), Hence when you say, I want to speak to a manager the script reply is 'I am the person that manages your account, it is me you need to discuss this with'. I was told to keep the pressure on the debtor and only pass the account to a supervisor if the debtor got abusive or quoted legislation.

Anyway, as the system is calling debtors I would go through each letter in the in-tray and update the system notes. It really depended on the content of the letter that determined action. Mostly it was the normal 'I cannot pay' or 'I need more time'. If my headset bleeped I would take a call.

If I got a letter I did not understand, from a solicitor, or quoting legislation I was required to pass it to a supervisor.

Telephone Calls.

Staff members work on an automated calling system where each account is rotated and called. If you answer it is picked up by a member of staff that gets a bleep in the headphones. Each member of staff would only talk to a debtor for his client (Halifax). If YOU call them, and the Halifax account managers is on a call it is diverted to a supervisor (your details are requested). Staff cannot see who the computer is calling! if a call gets 'a hit' the screen they are in closes and your account details come up, the conversation is then recorded and a clock appears on screen, staff have a time limit to talk to you (they won't chat all day!!) and this can be btween 2-15mins, at the 15min point the computer notifies a supervisor that a 'long call' is in progress and will automatically tune his headset into the conversation (if the supervisor is not on a call themselves), if they are on a call a message is flashed on their screen.

The whole point of the telephone call is to get you to pay. The staff member will start with 'you need to pay the balance in full today' and slowly give ground until a 'compromise' is reached.

HINT: stick to your guns, offer what you can afford. Don't get angry (easy to say I know) but they are working from a script and enjoy it when they wind you up.

NOTE: the staff member is their to get information out of YOU, they won't give you any information except what YOU have already told them in previous calls!!

When the call ends the recorded conversation is shunted to an archive file and can only be replayed by a supervisor. The member of staff has 2 minutes to update the screen before the computer starts the call cycle again.

If there is no answer to your 'phone the computed will reallocated a new slot later in the day. This could be in 2, 4 or 6 hours depending on the number of debtors from that client. DCAs can only make a max of 25 calls a week (6 days from 7), so this can be about 3 unanswered calls a day. Once they have spoken to you the system needs to be given an 'action' when the screen is completed by the staff member. This action will depend on what the staff member feels is appropriate (see 'actions' at the bottom for more info).

Letters

You are correct in you assumption that 90% of the letters sent out by a DCA are pre-written or template letters. The system can generate a letter every 5 days if no phone call is answered and it will move up a scale of seriousness from say, 'call us' to 'pre-Litergation', etc. The member of staff can also request a letter based upon the conversation you had with them by pressing the F1-12 keys.

Each letter sent out is just a template and when the DCA has run out of letters with NO response at all, it is passed back to the client for legal action to commence.

NOTE: some DCAs have a legal section that can issue CCJs via an associated solicitor, but the client must approve such action. When an account is passed back to the client for a decision there is usually a 14 day 'quiet' period, where you hear nothing at all from the DCA. After this you may get it passed to another DCA (and the process starts again) or sent for legal action.

If you have asked a question outside the norm and a template letters does not answer the query, this will be sent to a supervisor for determination.

DCA staff do not have the function to respond to your letter in person. And sometimes this can be VERY frustrating for the member of staff/supervisor. One of the biggest problems with DCAs is this lack of 'human' consideration. The staff member may actually agree with what your saying but may not have the option (within the 'action' list) to satisfy your request. She has to move you from a position they cannot (note I didn't say will not) agree to because the system won't let them, to a position the system will allow.

In the 10% of cases where a 'personal' letter is sent out, this is always where you have made a formal written complaint regarding a recorded conversation that either breach the rules or where you were abused by the account manager/staff member (same thing).

NOTE: You may complained about a staff member swearing at you but if during the conversation up to that point you swore at him/her, you complaint would be ignored. The principle of 'get what you give' is very much in operation at DCAs.

HINT: If you do receive abuse, then take a step back and think 'did I start this?' if you are 100% confident you didn't, COMPLAIN in writing, stating the date and time of the call and what was said. I have released staff because they lost their temper (it's unprofessional and should NOT be tolerated). You have a right to be treated with respect, but so do the staff you are talking to!

Timescales

This is a basic rule: a DCA should not be acting unless a DEFAULT NOTICE was issued. If you have not received a defualt notice inform the DCA immediately. They will have a procedure where the account is put on hold for 48 hours and the client must send out a copy of the DEFAULT NOTICE. When the account is passed to a DCA the client must put the date the default notice was issued. the DCA then have 120 or 180 days to recover or start to recover the debt. If after 120 or 180 days there is no progress or contact with the debtor, the account is normally passed back to the client for legal action or a home visit, etc. It is the clients decision on what would happen after that. So the Defualt notice is a key document (not just for CCA reasons) because it is the start date for recovery action. I have seen a number of cases where a default date was entered on the debtors file by a client but no default notice was ever issued (if there is a dispute between the debtor and client over the issue of a Default notice then normally a supervisor would check the debtors credit file to see if the notice is recorded - this would normally be a min of 31 days after the default notice is issued and the debtor account would be put on hold by the DCA). The supervisor can refuse to process the debtor account until a valid default notice is issued and I did do this during my time (particularly with Lombard Tricity Finance).

NOTE: the default notice can be issued by the DCA and with some you could get a 'pre-default notice' letter sent to you. This can form part of the DCA procedure but is often only done by 'in-house' DCAs (but not exclusively).

Assuming you make NO contact with the DCA (either phone or letter) then the system will normally generate a letter every 5-7 days for 'aggressive' DCAs and each letter gets more 'serious' as they escalate (these DCAs are working to the 120 day aged debtor cycle). With some medium aggressive DCAs this could be every 14-21 days. And the maximum 'cycle' is every 28 days (these DCAs are working to the 180 day aged debtor cycle).

Defualt Notice issued = 90 days after last payment

Legal action determined (after NO contact) 180 days after default issued. Please understand that this is just a general rule. It will be decided by the client based upon YOUR actions. If you are trying to resolve the debt by making an offer they are less likely to go for a CCJ. However, if the information you provide the DCA staff member could give the client an advantage (say for example, you have a mortgage with positive equity) then they may speed up a CCJ in order to issue a charging order, etc.

Actions:

This, funny enough, is the most important stage of the process. At the end of the conversation or letter, the staff member must decide 'follow up action' they only have 12 letter options with a 13th as 'pass to supervisor'.

Most action generate another threatening letter. But a few do not, they are:

1) Agree payment plan of £

2) Refused to pay, (can but won't) - pursue.

3) Recommend Legal (CCJ) - because of 'reason' (i.e positive equity)

4) Recommend write-off - because of 'reason' (i.e Bankrupt confirmed)

5) Recommend Hold - because of 'reason' (i.e S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) request/CCA request)

6) Recommend visit - because of 'reason' (i.e no contact in 120 days)

7) Pass back to client (hold) - because of 'reason' (i.e Account in Dispute)

8) Pass back to client (end) - because of 'reason' (i.e Doctors note/death)

9) Pass to technical team - because of 'reason' (i.e Legislation quote)

10) Uneconomical to pursue - 'reason' (2+ CCJs on file)