Fair Go highlights importance of carefully choosing your Debt Collector

A recent episode of Fairgo highlighted the need to ensure that you select the right Debt Collection Agency, so you not only get the right result, but you also actually get your cash.

The story centered around two consumers who had engaged Gilbert Chapman to recover debts for them. In the first case Gilbert had achieved a recovery of $30,000 (all good you would think) but wanted to charge commission on $70,000 (being the original debt) at his commission rate of 20%. On top of that he had held the money for over 10 months, and not paid out anything.

In the second story the dissatisfied consumer had cancelled the contract after five months with Gilbert, as nothing had been recovered, and was now being taken to the Disputes Tribunal by Gilbert for a cancellation fee of $15,000. Unfairly, in both cases Gilbert's contract did allow him to charge the exorbitant cancellation fee / commission.

So what should you do to avoid being in the same position (besides not using Gilbert Chapman)? There are four things at Debtworks we suggest that you should consider when you select a Debt Collection Agency.

1 - Do they have a trust account? A trust account means that any money recovered by your agency is placed in a separate audited account, and can’t be used to pay their own bills.

2- Do they have online access? You should be able to go online and view your debts to see what is going on, what activity there is, and what amount has been recovered so far.

3 - Read the fine print! What are the terms and conditions? Ask the questions, what happens if I cancel the debt, or if I settle for a lower amount? A good agency will cover all the variations in its terms, so you should get no surprises.

4- Do you trust them? When you appoint a debt collection agent, you are appointing a fiduciary agent, someone who prudently takes care of money for another person and should act in your best interest at all times. Do you trust that agency to undertake that role and pay you? Normally for fiduciary agents (like lawyers or accountants) you would get a recommendation from a friend or colleague, and when it comes to a debt collector it is the same. Ask them for references, who else do they also act for? If for example they act for major corporates then they will have already passed some very rigorous tests.

If you want to see the episode go to http://tvnz.co.nz/fair-go/disappearing-debt-video-5445242.

Over the past 12 months, Debtworks has invested substantially in its people, and have increased our headcount by more than 100%.  When we hire, develop, promote and shift our people around we do so according to the principles described by Jim Collins in his book, Good to Great.  He talks about a business being a lot like a bus.  You need to get the right people on your bus, and sitting in the right seats in order to get your bus heading in the right direction, at the right speed.

For us, the “right people” are those who are passionate about a career doing what we do – collecting cash.  They have values and standards that mirror ours so we don’t need to invest a lot of our time into “teaching our values” – our people come to our business with them already established.  In reality, values are something that you learn through your childhood and teenage years – if they haven’t got the right values by the time they’re being assessed during the recruitment process, they’re probably wrong for our bus.

We hire people for their attitude, and sometimes this means doing so in preference to hiring those with previously developed skills in collection.  Our entry level collectors who come in with their values and passion in the right place are taught our way of collecting.  Yes, this means intensive training at first, and of course there’s a cost associated with this, but the long term impact of hiring great people, provides us with the long term benefit of having great collectors who uphold our standards.

A year of outstanding growth was topped last night when Debtworks won the accounting and finance category at the prestigious 2012 AUT Excellence in Business Support awards.

Amongst the gala celebrations, the simple expression “we collect cash” brought an audience of over 700 to silence. It was that simple focus that propelled Debtworks’ success.

“Regardless of the market that any business operates in, every business needs to ensure that they are paid, and that’s why we design and deliver solutions which focus on collecting cash” said David Young, Director of Sales and Marketing.

As a member of the EOS Group, we can arrange for collection of accounts for our client’s throughout the world. However in addition, we are also instructed by other EOS members to collect accounts in New Zealand.

A recent file was a perfect example of not only the efficiency of the EOS system, but of our ever shrinking world.

The “facts” of the file make for interesting reading, a young Kiwi whilst on his O.E. decided to attend a “Kings of Leon” concert live at Nurburgring in Germany in June 2011. The concert was a huge success, and our tired Kiwi booked into a hotel for the night.

Sunday was the start of the second round, with Te Atatu needing to maintain its winning streak, if it wants to maintain its position, top of the table, with East Coast.

The round started with the home game against Oratia, and having won 3-nil away, Te Atatu was confident of the points, but wanted to build on its composure on the ball. with coach Arjan having now settled on a 3-4-3 formation.

Te Atatu started strongly, but with barely 5 minutes gone, Kirsten came off injured, and with just the one sub, it was going to be a long day at the office for the girls. But just 10 minutes later Bronwyn came off second best in a tackle which will probably see her out for 2 or 3 weeks. Down to 10 players, what had seen a fore gone conclusion, became a real test of not just fitness, but also mental strength.

In what can only be described as pure football, Te Atau rather than going into its shell, started to play some of its most attacking football of the season. Danny set the pace, with superb runs down the flanks and crosses into the Oratia box.

In the middle of the park, Laura was finding an extra inch of space, and creating havoc for the Oratia defence, and was unlucky not to open her account for the season. However Kirsten was not to be denied and landed an inch perfect 20 yard drive to see Te Atau go to the half 1-nil up.

At half time Arjan focused the girls on ensuring they all did the basics well, as he knew they couldn't continue at the same pace for the second half with only 10 players. But in what is developing into not only one of the strongest defences in the league, Tracey, Shorts and CK (Player of the day)  showed they were also one of the smartest, springing the offside trap 8 times in the second half.

But at their heart, Te Atau wants to play attacking football, and Shorts was constantly looking to build out of defence, with some impressive runs carving up the opposition midfield. In goal Cilla showed pure athleticism when a Flying mid air dive palmed away an impressive shot to the top corner.

Te Atau got its second from the ever consistent Helena, who chipped the keeper from 18 yards out. The girls closed out the game 2- nil up, unlucky not to have got more.

This was the last game of the round, against a fired up Birkenhead. It is fair to say that Birkenhead play a very “physical” style of football (some say they lack style and are just physical) which would prove a challenge for the younger Te Atatu squad.

Birkenhead started very strong, looking to “muscle” possession and dominate in the midfield. But Te Atatu kept their composure and played a quick passing game. Birkenhead created a number of shooting opportunities, but Cilla in goals was more than up to the task, with some athletic saves.

However Te Atatu has one of the best defences in the league. The combination of Clara (Shorts) in the centre (an absolute rock), Tracey on the right and Wendy (of left wing fame last week) on the left. No matter how much pressure Birkenhead created, (and there was a lot) Clara and co kept tackling and laid the foundation for a true “defensive win”.

Building on their impressive win over top of the table East Coast Bays last week, Te Atatu had a new confidence on Sunday against West Auckland.

With a measured start, Te Atau start building its share of possession and control of the game, but was lacking the final touch to finish and West Auckland looked capable of a upset win. However in a brilliant “Alex Fergusson” move Ajan substituted Wendy on the left wing, changing the Te Atau attack.

Wendy quickly took complete control of her flank, and started to pepper the West Auckland box with crosses and shots. When she wasn’t out wide, she was proving to be a target at the back post for Helena on the opposite flank.

In a lethal combination, Helena attacked down the right flank, sent a cross into Wendy at the back post, only to see it intercepted by the West Auckland sweeper, whose clearance went straight back to Helena feet. With the West Auckland defence now split wide open, Helena drilled the ball into the net.

Half time saw the score 1 – nil to Te Atau with West Auckland best chance being a breakout, that had seen a one on one with keeper Cilla, but Cilla was too fast on her line, and took the ball from the West Auckland’s centre forwards feet.

The second half saw increased pressure and possession see-sawing from end to end. However with 15 minutes to go Bronwyn put it beyond a doubt curling a corner into the top right corner of the goal. Player of the day went to “CK” who had covered miles of ground in the midfield.

After a loss last week, the prospect of playing top of the table, East Coast Bays, was to say the least, daunting. With an impressive 18 goals already, East Coast had shown they were a formable attacking side, and would test both the Te Atatue keeper and defence.

Sunday was wet, very wet, with conditions poor and the first half being played in an almost torrential downpour. Both sides struggled in the conditions, both creating opportunities but unable to get their shots on target. But late in the half saw a poor clearance by East Coast fall to Helena, who with a first time volley sent the ball crashing into the top corner of the net, and Te Atatu 1-nil up at the break.

East Coast Bays was in unfamiliar territory, being 1-nil down, started the second half with a real vengeance, and caught the Te Atatu girls napping. At 1 all, the game ebbed and flowed, with strong defensive effort from joint players of the day Julie and keeper Cilla ensuring no more goals for East Coast.

Sunday saw the Debtworks sponsored Ta Atatu Women’s team have their first loss of the season in what was a close fought encounter against Takapuna W1.

Takapuna started very strongly, with a powerful shot in the first 20 minutes, in spite of keeper Cilla getting a hand to it finding the back of the net. The second was of equal quality with Takapuna playing good football and controlling the pace of the game.

Te Atatu’s lack of experience started to show, with no real answer to Takapuna more aggressive approach, with even the 70/30’s not being won.

At 2 nil down at half time the game looked beyond Te Atatu’s grasp, but a player of the day Tracey showed that not only was she a star defender at left back, but she was also capable of playing striker as well. Finding herself on the edge of the circle, she collected a Takapuna clearance and hit it first time, in what was a perfect strike, leaving the Takapuna keeper stranded and the ball in the net.

At 2.-1 Te Atatu found some confidence, and managed to launch some attacks, but could not find the equaliser.

The Law Commission have now published an Issues Paper relating to their review of the joint and several liability law.

The Issues Paper sets out the rules, how they have come about, what their effects are, and what the possibilities are for adjustment. The commission seeks submissions 31 January 2013 before formulating a Final Report to government for consideration.

The Issues Paper can be accessed at http://www.lawcom.govt.nz/sites/default/files/publications/2012/11/nzlc_ip32_jointandsev_web.pdf

The short answer is 6 years.

Currently in New Zealand there are two separate acts that cover the question of limitation (or how long you can pursue a debt), the Limitations Act 1950 (the old Act) and the Limitation Act 2010 (the new Act), which came into force on 1 January 2011.

The innocently sounding Courts and Criminal Matters Bill was passed on 6 July 2011.

Well innocent enough you expect from a credit prospective, but it did in fact contain a fundamental change to how credit managers will have to consider securities.
As of 1 May 2012, a new SUPER PRIORITY was created under the Act.

PRE 1 MAY 2012

Information Capsules – more than discovery

The changes to the District Court Rules in 2009 introduced a range of new documents and steps. One of the more radical of these was Information Capsules.

The initial response was that this was just a new name for the discovery process (where each party to a defended hearing would list and exchange ALL their documents) but the reality is that while it has elements of the discovery process, it is far far more than just that.

THE PROCESS

The Notice of Claim process follows a series of steps and if at any stage a party fails to act then either judgment can be entered or the proceedings come to an end.

Phoenix Companies

In Greek mythology the Phoenix was a bird that could never die, always being reborn from its own ashes.

All Credit mangers will instantly think of a company that they have dealt with in the past, which magically keep reappearing, in what is in effect exactly the same business, and in many cases even with the same name. One day ABC Plumbing goes into liquidation and the next day you have an application for credit from ABC (2008) Plumbing Ltd.