Collecting During COVID-19

Collecting During Covid-19

So, someone asked me, ‘how can you collect while this pandemic goes on?’.  Well, aside from not wanting to lay off our staff for weeks, and our clients are creditors that still want responsible representation, there are a number of things to consider – people’s debts aren’t going to be magically forgiven, and any debt we are calling on is for goods or services rendered months ago, but these are unusual times, and some compassion and humanity is needed in collections, now more than ever.

Fortunately, our company works with clients that allow us to be reasonable with consumers – a lot of our policies that have always been in place are now important to maintain and treating people with compassion and professionalism has always been important to us. 

So what’s changed, as companies are shuttering their doors, people are laid off or working from home, and there is a great deal of fear and uncertainty?

Well, here’s what we do with the consumers we contact, regardless of current circumstances, and here’s what we are doing over and above that to be reasonable.


People Who Want To Resolve Their Debts

Nothing changes here – these consumers still have incomes, they still want to resolve their debts, and we can arrange for them to pay their debt in a painless manner.  This past weekend dozens of people paid via our website portal, and their accounts will be closed as Paid in Full.  Not all debt collection is antagonistic, and our Google Business Page reflects that here. 

COVID-19 Changes: Obviously, we all have a responsibility to commit to social distancing to prevent the spread of the virus, so we are actively encouraging consumers to pay by Interac e-Transfer, mobile banking and online bill payment, or by credit card.  We certainly don’t want people to go out and mail a cheque or go to a bank branch or come to our offices, if at all possible.

People Who Want To Resolve Their Debts But Are Struggling

We’ve always been reasonable with people who don’t have payment in full – our standard policy is to try to negotiate payment in full either all at once or over payments.  Furthermore, if a person commits to paying an account with pre-authorized credit card or bank payments, most of our clients allow us to freeze the balance with interest up to the point of payment … there’s no point in someone making payments and just treading water as their payment is offset with compound interest.  If someone is working with us, we will work with them.

COVID-19 Changes: Some two-income families are now one-income families, hours have been cut, or other ways household income is smaller for the short term and we understand that, and it’s better to resolve a debt over the next three months than not at all.  Our process doesn’t change, but we understand there may be more people struggling that we talk to.

People Who Want To Resolve Their Debts Want To Investigate It

We often get consumers asking for proof they owe the debt – whether it’s a copy of an invoice, or a breakdown of how a balance came to be owed.  We try to give consumers under normal circumstances 2-3 days to look into their financial records or reach out to our clients for a copy of an invoice before we render a decision on a file.  Everyone deserves to have the facts in front of them before making a decision to pay or not pay an account.

COVID-19 Changes: Some of our clients are having to adapt their business model, having everyone work from home or radically change their workplace.  Things that might have taken a day or two last month may take a week or more now, as we all try to work from home or work with less team members.  While we would normally give people 2-3 days to investigate an invoice or contract, we’ll put it out at least a week now to be considerate of everyone in these circumstances.

People Who Want to Resolve Their Debts But Can’t

If someone has just lost their job, has an illness preventing them from working for the short-term, or is simply overwhelmed, one of the options we give people who don’t have the stability to offer a payment arrangements is to make a good faith payment, a small amount showing their intent to pay, and we will put their hold on 30 days while they get their feet under them.

COVID-19 Changes:  Things are changing quickly with the virus, and some people are quarantining or self-isolating with flu-like symptoms or their employers are non-essential businesses that have been forced to close.  We understand that, and we’ll take a good faith payment and call back in 30 days to see where we are all at.  We’ll also point people in the direction of government financial support during this pandemic if they need help or are unsure of where to turn.

People Who Can’t Or Won’t Pay

If someone simply isn’t’ willing to commit to payment, either because they don’t agree with the amount, or aren’t going to be able to resolve it in the long term, or are emotional because everyone is calling, under normal circumstances we let them know if they don’t want to resolve it with us, we’ll report it to the credit bureau as an outstanding debt, and check in with them in 90 days to see if things have changed.  We don’t believe it’s a good solution to call someone who has refused to pay day after day.  That hasn’t changed, because if someone tells us they won’t pay the debt, we respect their position.

COVID-19 Changes:  These are unusual times.  We understand that some people who can’t pay right now may be dealing with circumstances out of their control.  We want to work with people, not kick them while they are down.  While we might flag a file to be reported to the credit bureau, we won’t report any new debts to Equifax or Trans Union until April 30^th.  That gives people a chance to change their position and reach back out to us before then if their circumstances change.

Conclusion

We aren’t here to take advantage of people, and our negotiation process still takes into consideration financial hardship.  At the end of the day, we know that debt collection is one human being negotiating with another to resolve a financial issue … we’re just going to put emphasis on the ‘human’ part of things.

Thanks kindly,

Blair DeMarco-Wettlaufer
KINGSTON Data & Credit
Cambridge ON
226-946-1730
bwettlaufer@kingstondc.com