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Here you’ll find independent debt collection advice – articles on choosing credit collection services, debt recovery strategies, debt collection procedures and more.

Debt recovery can be a complex business – we hope the Debt Collection Services website will serve you in your end today. You will find a helpful list of debt collection related articles on the right and some more good tips below…

4 Ways To Handle Non-Payment Excuses Before Calling Upon Debt Collection Services…

When you are attempting to recover outstanding debts you will likely come across some very reasonable sounding excuses for non-payment. Below are 4 of the most common non-payment excuses and some effective ways of combating them.

1. “I have paid already”

What is an appropriate response to someone who says that they made a payment when you know full well that the payment was in fact not made? The easiest and often most effective method is to start asking for the details of the payment.

Asking the customer questions like what date the payment was made, how the payment was made (credit card, check, etc.), do they have a copy of the receipt or any type of proof will help to make a determination of whether the payment was actually made.

This is also helpful in ensuring that the payment was not actually made and just overlooked, therefore, ruining a relationship with a customer.

2. “The check was mailed yesterday”

This is a common excuse but can also be answered by asking questions similar to those listed above. After you have asked a satisfactory amount of questions, give the customer the benefit of the doubt and wait a few days for the check to arrive. If payment does not arrive in the allotted amount of time do not hesitate to follow up with a phone call or reminder invoice.

It is important to give the customer a chance to fix the problem but do not be hesitant to call a debt collection agency if payment does not quickly ensue.

3. “They are also waiting on payment from a customer”

This is a situation that you may be inclined to feel bad with your customer about. However, when a customer does not make payment to you, you are not able to make payment to your lender. Do not let your company’s reputation suffer due to the non-payment of a customer.

When a sale is made between you and a customer it is a contractual legal agreement. This simply means that your customer is required by law to make payment. If your customers allow bad debt to occur you should remind them of this agreement and never hesitate to call the services of a professional debt collection agency.

4. “Insurance was going to cover that”

An insurance company covering a payment is a completely plausible excuse for non-payment but is in no way a legal excuse for it. The insurance company is responsible for paying the customer for whatever their arrangement was and the customer is responsible for making payment to your company. This should be made clear to the customer whenever this excuse arises.

Calling a debt collection agency should never be thought of as a last resort. A standard procedure for using such an agency should be part of any company’s debt recovery plan. In general a 30/60/90 day period is usually a great starting point.

90 days should be the maximum allowed time before a collection agency is called because statistically after 90 days the chances of recovery are significantly decreased. The earlier you call a professional, the greater your chances you will have of recovering any bad debt.