Sundry Debt Collection: A fresh approach

In May 2017 I contacted a large central London Council and enquired whether they would be willing to meet and discuss how Sundry Debt collection could be improved. To my surprise they agreed and a meeting was scheduled for the end of May 2017.

During the meeting it soon became apparent the problem was enormous and required a specialist approach if we were to make a difference, we discussed how it would work and what we could offer that was different to every other collection agency.

The meeting was a success and it was agreed DSL would receive 250 test cases.

Cases arrived a few weeks later and consisted of mainly commercial debts with values between just a few pounds to many thousands and were aged between 2 to 6 years old.

Debt types varied across the commercial spectrum to include nursing home over-payments, council staff salary over-payments, alcohol licencing, waste management, planning and traffic diversion under payments, building permit and service charge arrears, training course arrears, business licencing and builders skip licencing etc.

Due to the age of the debt there were a large number of companies that had either moved address, merged with other businesses, gone into receivership or simply failed to pay.

Our investigators began examining each case to identify live and dissolved companies along with new registered office and trading locations. Following a successful trace, the most difficult task of all was to identify the department or persons who were able to help. Due to the age of these debts, companies had generally archived records and were reluctant to help, therefore a little pressure was bought to bear and over time with pleasant persistence most people agreed to help.

The test lasted 6 months and we achieved an overall success rate of 54%.

Our success percentage is made up as follows:

• 29% Paid in Full
• 26% Already paid but not identified [located in suspense account]
• 31% Gone Away No Trace, Liquidated or Dissolved.
• 14% Written off following investigation i.e. not liable.

We have a huge amount of local authority collection experience within DSL and are able to offer a proven collection solution to a number of authorities with immediate effect.

Getting ahead in today’s debt collection world doesn’t always mean choosing the biggest company to achieve the best results, but it does mean choosing the company best equipped to exceed the level of customer service you expect and surpass collection targets.

Here at DSL we punch well above our weight and use the latest technology mixed with good old-fashioned hard work to achieve results other agencies can only dream about.

We consider good customer communication to be as important as a good collection rate. One of the standout features of our service was soon remarked upon by our trial local authority customer “It’s great to get regular feedback from a collection agency; usually we don’t hear anything for weeks and months after sending debts to them. With DSL we get regular updates and we get paid weekly, what’s not to like.”

With the implementation of new Data Protection Regulations in May 2018, it’s more important than ever to know and trust your business partners, and to ensure your customer data is as secure as it can be. Most importantly, you must know who they may want to share it with and why. At DSL we place great importance on GDPR compliance and are accredited by the Veterinary Management Group as a CPD non-clinical training provider.

We recently helped a number of existing customers improve some of their everyday data processing methods which will help bring about GDPR compliance without massive cost.

Most local authorities have endured funding and staff reductions over the last few years and many are seeking innovative outsourced collection solutions to help collect more for less.

In Summary: Simple innovative steps and good old fashioned hard work can make a world of difference.

To find out more contact mike.brooks@dsluk.net, call 01527 543672