Debt Recovery

There are many phrases and excuses debtors use – among the most common are:

• “I will pay you next Thursday” (or provide a date in the near future). They will tell you this every time you contact them
• “My industry has been badly effected by Corona Virus lockdowns” or “I am still waiting on government subsidies to arrive and will make a payment as soon as I get it.”
• The old favourite still goes around – “the cheque is in the mail”
• “Can I get your banking details again”
• “I entered an incorrect account number and waiting for the funds to bounce back to me.”
• “My online banking (or credit card) has been hacked and I’m waiting for the bank to fix it”
• Their credit card payments are declined when processed.
• The debt suddenly becomes disputed after hearing other previous excuses and refuses to pay any or all of the debt.
• The debtor ignores all communication whether it be by phone, email or mail. You may receive return to sender mail.

You are hearing rumours from others in your industry that the debtor owes other people money. If you are a member of Creditor Watch you may be receiving Mercantile agency alerts, insolvency alerts or notices of court judgments with regards to this debtor.

At the commencement of engaging with the debtor, they may be reluctant to sign your Terms & Conditions or a Personal Guarantee. They may ask for payment on “their” terms which should be a red flag.

If you are receiving multiple excuses or delays in payment, you should advise your customer that you will be sending the account to Repaid! Collections. This may elicit a response and/or payment. It is important that you follow through with engaging us following advising your customer. If you don’t, this becomes an empty threat that they will continually ignore.

We provide a free phone consultation regarding the matter. Sometimes there may be a meeting. (according to size and complexity of debt). We discuss the history as to why the debt remains unpaid and discuss a strategy to collect the debt.

If you are a new client, we request all information be sent across to us electronically including any outstanding invoices, terms and conditions and any communication between the parties.

We require your bank account details as we prefer the debtor pays into our trust account. That way we can monitor expected payments. As we do banking every Tuesday and Friday we can then deduct our agreed commission and remit the balance of the funds to you.

Our systems are backed up and information is stored in the cloud and also off site. A copy of the Certificate of Compliance with ISO/IEC 27001:2013 for the Provision of Secure Data Centre Facilities is available on request.

Our usual debt collection process consists of 3 letters that escalate in intensity and the final letter is a complimentary legal letter of demand. These are teamed with phone calls to resolve the matter. If the debt remains unpaid, we discuss a sensible strategy to escalate the matter. It may mean taking legal action with our associated law firms.

Yes, you can continue doing ongoing work. We are a third party to resolve an issue if required. Sometimes there has been a misunderstanding and we can assist in identifying this.

Your staff may not be educated in negotiation skills or may not like debt collection. They may be time poor or don’t fully understand the importance of cash flow for business.

Matters are handled professionally and assertively (not aggressively). Testimony to that is sometimes our debtors are so impressed with how the matter is handled they become clients.

Our trained staff are familiar with ACCC guidelines and our company is a member of the professional organisations Institute of Mercantile Agencies and Australian Institute of Credit Management.