A Day in the Life of our Administration Team:
8.30am
Before the phones are switched to ‘live’ for the day at 9am, time for a catch up with the team about pressing matters, updated criteria from various creditors and review of the diary for today! Deal with all messages left overnight from clients and creditors.
2 clients have received numerous phone calls from creditors and their collection agents demanding payments to their accounts over the phone, threatening all sorts of recovery action and dire consequences if the debts are not cleared.
It’s not unusual, particularly in the early days of a debt management plan, to find that the creditors and/or their collection agents continue to press for repayment, and this can take the form of standard, computer generated letters, or collection teams contacting clients by phone as late as 9 or 10pm or at weekends. We hear of many instances where calls have been made several times a day which can be very distressing, and are generally as a result of numbers being dialled by automated dialler software controlled by a computer instead of a human. On most occasions, when the lenders become aware of our involvement, these calls and letters reduce or even stop altogether as we have a really good relationship with the creditors who recognise that we look after both our clients and their creditors.
It’s really important first to be aware that such calls etc will continue for a little while after setting up the Plan, but also to let us know when such contacts are made so that we can deal with them for you – that’s what we’re here for, and we are good at dealing with these problems! Our clients must let us know of any contact, whether by phone or letter.
Anyway, problem sorted by calls to the creditors!
10.00am
This morning’s post arrives!
As usual, loads of letters from creditors and their collection agents, mostly to confirm balances of account and acceptances of our payment offers, but there are some letters sent in by our clients which are from solicitors acting for the lenders, who have been instructed to take legal action such as obtaining a County Court Judgement (CCJ). The prospect of potential court action can be very worrying for our clients so it is really important that we know of this situation as soon as possible.
It is unusual for a court to deny an application by a lender for a CCJ, but the blue papers sent to our clients by the court should be fully completed and returned to the court to ensure that the client’s circumstances are taken into account when the court determines how much our client must pay the lender monthly as part of the Judgement. We can complete these forms if our client is unable to do so, and provide information to the court about the client’s income and essential living costs, explain special circumstances (such as special food needs etc), set out a full schedule of debts, and advise on the overall monthly amount available which can be used to cover all of the debts, so that a ‘fair’ payment is determined.
For some of our clients the CCJ has already been awarded by the court before we become aware, but we can help to draw up a Form N245 court application to vary the Judgement and try to reduce the amount, where the payment ordered by the court is unaffordable.
One of the letters was from a creditor stating that they have not received payment. I can see from the date of the letter that the payment should have reached them by now. I contact the creditor to make sure, and they confirm that they’ve not received the payment we sent 3 weeks ago! I request proof of payment from our Accounts Department and call the creditor again, giving them the details over the phone so that it can be confirmed on their notes. In addition I fax the proof to them, in order for them to trace the missing payment in their accounts. A problem like this is usually resolved within a few days as we are always able to provide proof of payments sent.
2pm
One of my clients calls in after a phone call from a Bailiff. It’s important that bailiffs are not given access to the property as they have legal rights once they are in the house, and I referred the client to our web pages about this (Dealing with Bailiffs). I advised the client that we will deal with the bailiff for him and he’s sending in the details.
2.30pm
One of my clients calls as he’s worried about a letter saying that one of his creditors has not received a payment this month. I contact the creditor and confirm that the payment from our client was received a few days later than we expected. They change the date for me, so that payment is given enough time to clear with them. I call the client back to give feedback on what I’ve done, and all’s well.
2.45pm
A client calls to advise that her employer has informed her that her salary will be paid 2 weeks late this month, and she is concerned about her creditors not being paid on time. I advise the client to move the date of her standing order mandate this month to avoid any fees charged by her bank. I also write to all her creditors to let them know that their payment will be 2 weeks late this month, and assure them that this is a temporary situation, with normal arrangements resuming next month. By doing this, the creditors will be aware of the reason payment is late; this will avoid unnecessary calls or letters to my client, and any payment arrangements will remain in place.
Carry on with the post received this morning; there are loads of letters from creditors accepting our offers of payments. This means I have to capture them on our system, send a letter to the client to confirm the arrangement and scan the letter onto the client’s file as proof.
3.05pm
A creditor calls to give an updated balance on one of the accounts and confirms that the payment arrangement we requested is in place. I sent confirmation of the arrangement to the client.
3.10pm
I contact a client who has been going through a rough time due to recent surgery, to make sure he is recovering well and find out if he’s had any problems with his creditors. I assure him that I have contacted his creditors to advise that due to surgery he has had to skip this month’s payment, but will make a double payment next month to catch up.
I go through tasks due today that I have previously set up. I have a task for every client which will pop up throughout the month reminding me to send any letters to creditors, for example I will send financial statements to any who have not yet accepted the offers; a few weeks later on for the same client a task will remind me to chase those offers. I call the creditor to make the arrangement is in place or send them a letter asking them if they have done so. Each time an arrangement is put in place, I write to the client to confirm this.
I also ensure I call my clients to keep in touch, or remind them of payments we have not yet received. Today I’ve had 24 tasks, and I’ve just completed them all.
I’ve come across a letter in the post, rejecting the offer of payment. I call the creditor and let them know that the offer they’ve rejected is actually a weekly payment to them! They apologise for the error and gladly accept the offer again, updating their records that the offer is per week.
17.19pm
I’ve just had a call from a client who said he is unable to make his payment this month because he has had to replace the tyres on his car. I explain to him that I will write to his creditors to inform them of this, but they will call him to chase the arrears as not all creditors appreciate or understand non-payment of debts. Client understands this and will try to make a double payment next month to avoid any problems. I also remind him to change his standing order with this bank to next month.
17.40
Another day draws to a close – time to sort out my family!!
