[Rob Wenzel]

Hi everyone,

At Parra we currently employ at Debt Recovery Officer and engage a mercantile agent to do our legal work. Wanting to hear from those that don’t employ a dedicated Debt Recovery Officer and have a mercantile agent look after all recovery work i.e. Once an account is referred to them, the ratepayer only deals with them. Wanting to hear the Pros & Cons. Thanking you.

[John Towers]

Hi Rob,

I’m not sure that it can be that simplistic.

I think no matter what, you need someone in your office to look after the Councils interest in the matter/s. It might be possible to reduce from 2 internals to 1 but someone needs to do the Council preparation work. In the scenario you describe it means giving access to the MA to ALL your systems & I would have privacy issues there. How would you limit the access to only those accounts/names that are forwarded?

Whether we like it or not I think some MA’s are looking to use Councils as the Golden Goose. Maybe I’m just cynical.

JT

[Rob Wenzel]

Thanks JT.

We would still retain the staff member and they would look after payments, client status reports and the like (as well as other non-recovery work), but I was wanting the agent to take and manage arrangements/direct debits on accounts that have been referred to them. Wanting them to issue text messages and possibly phone calls before a demand letter (I would expect to pay for this service). Wouldn’t entertain giving them access to our systems though.

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