1.
How can we work for you for free?
2.
Once I retain your services, how do you proced?
3.
If a debt goes unpaid, who cares?
4.
Is your industry regulated by an official organization?
5.
Do I have to have a contract with my customer in order to send them to you for collections?
6.
Does a collection account show on a consumer’s credit file?
7.
What if a customer pays me directly, after I’ve already sent their information to you for collections?
8.
How much does it cost for you to collect?
9.
What percentage of my accounts will you recover?
10.
Is there anything I can do to increase how much you recover?
1. How can we work for you for free?
Contingency based collections do not require
any payment on your part. Our fees are contingent on our
collections, which means: we only get paid when your account
is collected. If you regularly write off bad debt accounts,
then contingency based collections may be the most profitable
choice for you.
2. Once I retain your services, how do you proced?
Consumer collections begins with a first letter,
called a dunning notice. FDCPA requires that we give consumers
30 days to dispute any account you place with us. Some consumers
will contact us after receiving the first notice. They may dispute
the amount or the terms. After the dispute period, we begin a
series of letters and telephone campaigns. All our efforts are
geared towards making direct contact with the person responsible
for paying the debt owed to you. If a consumer that you have
referred to us does not pay their account within 45 days, their
account will be reported to the 3 national credit bureaus:
TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian. Accounts reported to the
credit bureaus remain on a consumer’s file for 7 years from the
date of delinquency.
3. If a debt goes unpaid, who cares?
There’s no such thing as an unpaid bill. Those of us who pay
our bills end up paying for those who don’t as well, in the
form of higher prices passed on to consumers to make up for
losses to bad debt. ACA estimates that collectors save the
average family of four $331 a year. This represents money
they would have spent in increased cost of goods and services,
if businesses raised their prices to cover their losses to bad
debt instead of recovering the revenue through a collection agency.
4. Is your industry regulated by an official organization?
In our industry, compliance with all local, state
and federal regulations is a top priority. Our agency is committed
to legal, ethical and professional practices. In addition to meeting
all requirements of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)
and Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), we abide by the stringent
requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability
Act (HIPAA), the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, and various state licensing
regulations.
5. Do I have to have a contract with my customer in order to send them to you for collections?
It always helps if you have some type of written
agreement with your customer, but that is not always possible, and
it is not required. If you have provided goods or services, they
you are entitled to payment for them.
6. Does a collection account show on a consumer’s credit file?
CSI reports unpaid accounts to all three National Credit Bureaus.
7. What if a customer pays me directly, after I’ve already sent their information to you for collections?
You can report direct payments to us very easily
using CSI: Online. You can also call us to report direct payments.
Each month’s statement will show payments received in our office and
payments received in your office. CSI is due a fee on any payment
received after you place an account with us. In most cases, the
payments received in our office will be greater that the payments
received in your office, but on rare occasions, you may take a large
direct payment, for which the fee is greater than the fees due on the
accounts collected in our office. In that case, you would receive an
invoice for the difference.
8. How much does it cost for you to collect?
CSI’s fees are based on several different factors,
which include the following: age of the accounts you send to us,
balance of the accounts you send to us, type of debt owed by your
customers. Each CSI client has a different portfolio of debt. To
find out the rate we can offer you, please
click here to visit our Getting Started page and give us some
information about your business and your customers.
9. What percentage of my accounts will you recover?
The amount of accounts we are able to recover is dependent
on many different things. Some things you cannot control, like your
customers’ ability to pay. Other things you can control. The one
factor that most influences our ability to collect your accounts
is the age of the account when you send it to us. The older the
account, the less likely it is to be paid. You have the ability to
control how long you work account before sending them to us. Our
recommendation is that you send us accounts when they are no more
than 90 days past due.
10. Is there anything I can do to increase how much you recover?
The age of the account when you send it to us,
and the amount of information you gather on your customers can
both increase our success for you. If you collect accurate contact
information about your customers, including social security numbers,
and if you send us the accounts before they are 90 days old, then we
will be able to get the best recovery for you.