Debt collection is not a difficult process , but it is very tedious.Almost none of the people that are in business claims to be exceedingly brilliant . Though some of them may claim to be proprietary business methods, research indicates that none of them are really doing anything that is not already being done by someone else somewhere else.
whether a debt collector is collecting an individual debt or large portfolios of many debts ,the collection process is essentially the same.The differences between the successful companies and unsuccessful ones usually revolve around being more efficient, which usually comes with surviving long enough to gain more experience.
OBTAINING DEBTORS INFORMATION:
The debt collection process begins with obtaining from a credit guarrantor or current creditor all available information about the deliquent customer and the deliquent debt.Ideally ,a debt collector would like to know as much as possible about the account.Sometimes, however,too much information is a bad thing , because it can distract a debt collector from the main point that the Debtors account in a specific amount is long past due and immediately payable..
Nonetheless,the basis Debtor information should include:
1 Original creditors account number
- General and /Specific description of goods and services involved in the account which may include the:
Originals creditors service address (if the account is utility address
VIN #make, model and year for Auto,boat etc purchase or used as collateral. - Primary Debtors name.
2.Primary Debtors last known Address
3.Primary Debtors last known number - Co-debtors name and address
- Account open/Create date
- Credit line open amount
7.date of Deliquency
8.Last pay date/Pay amount. Collateral repossession date (if repossessed)and so on .
Prior to beginning collection on a debt or portfolio of Debt,a collection agency should perform an initial check to verify that the debt are generally valid , verifiable and easily provable in a court of Law . Some agencies also verify that the debt are still within the status of limitations, which is the time period during which a lawsuit could be brought on the account if required .To enhance the efficiency of an initial contact campaign,the most effective check, prior to the initial contact,is to run a Scrub and Append to verify that the debt collector is attempting to collect the best telephone and address of each customer.Rather than spend a lot of time and money trying to contact deceased, bankrupt,or incarcerated Debtor, some collection agencies run after another check to determine whether the deliquent customer is deceased, is or has been involved in accident,or in prison.The initial check is sometimes called a ”Scrub”
Lecture is by Dr Opeodu Akintunde Chris.FIDR .
Registrar/CEO, institute of Debt recovery Practitioners of Nigeria