by There are thousands of debt collection agencies operating in the UK today. So, if your business needs to hire one, make sure that you’re choosing the best Debt Collection Agency to value your money.
To help you with this, here are some useful tips that you can follow when hiring a third-party debt collection agency that will suit your business’ needs.
- Conduct a Research
The first step that you need to do is to shop around for a list of trusted and reliable debt collection agencies. You can do that by using the internet and visit some of their websites. Look for the services they offer and have judgment if the site is professional looking enough to convince you of hiring them.
You can check out multiple collection agencies and jot every agency that you think is suitable for your business. Also, check the agency’s field of specialization and see if they will be a good hire for you.
As you may know, there are lots of agencies out there who work best for smaller debts, and others are experts when it comes to larger companies.
- Check if they have Certifications and Compliances
When hiring a third-party collection agency, see if the agency has an up to date compliance certifications and licenses. Each city or state has particular rules for debt collection agencies. And as a business owner, you have to know and be fully informed about it. A piece of knowledge can help you big time in the long run.
As mentioned earlier, it is best to see if they have certifications such as:
- SSAE18 Type II SOC 1
- HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)
- FDCPA (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act)
- PCI DSS
Please note, these certificates and licenses may vary depending on the state and country you’re currently living in. To know more about these licenses for debt collection agencies, call your local gov’t to ask for the list of licenses and certifications available in your country.
Remember, there are hundreds or even thousands of debt collection agencies that are not legal or don’t have licenses to collect money. If debtors know these pieces of information, they won’t hesitate to sue your business and the collection agency immediately.
- Check if Skip Tracing is One of Their Methods
The best and reliable collection agency uses a debt collecting strategy called skip tracing. It is used to track and locate any debtors who have lost their radars from the vicinities.
Mostly, these collection agencies use some tools and multiple databases to find the debtor accurately. Once they located the debtor, they will resolve unpaid payments right away.
- Security
Aside from the three tips mentioned above, a reliable collection agency should have outstanding cybersecurity to defend the client’s confidential information and manage online payment safely. To do this, check their website and start asking for the type of security measures the agency is currently using.
In most cases, these agencies are willing to give that information to their potential clients. Because they are fully-informed that cybersecurity is one of the most crucial factors to check if their agency is trustworthy or not.
- Trial
Most agencies nowadays have this kind of offer with their would-be clients, “no collection, no payments.” Meaning, if no collection has been made from debtors, you don’t need to pay for their service.