Monday, 1 October 2012

The Collection Company: A Creditor's Last Resort

By Michele Moncrieffe


When you do not make payment for a service provided to you, the provider of the service might enlist the help of a collection company to recuperate the money you owe them. If the company is a corporation, then they may utilize an in-house agency. Smaller businesses will employ a third-party agency that will attempt to collect the debt from you for a percentage of the debt. However, before a company contacts an agency, they try to recover the debt themselves.

Reputable businesses are willing to work with their customers who are struggling or unable to make their payments on time. Cellphone companies, for instance, will email and text their customers to remind them that their payment is late. Moreover, they send automated phone calls notifying their customers may have their service interrupted because of delinquent payments. It is important to contact the company immediately. They provide alternative payment options for their customers, so there is no reason for you to worry and stress about missed or late payments. Cellular companies offer an option called promise to pay also known as payment agreements. If call them and notify them that a payment will be late, they will give up to a fourteen day grace period. When you have a past due amount the grace period is shortened to seven days, and if you promise to pay, but do not, your service may be interrupted. If you do not contact the company and ignore their attempts to contact you, then they will get a debt collection agency involved.

If you continue to default on payments and ignore the various attempts that the business uses to contact you, then they may turn to a collections agency. If you owe money to a business that has franchises or stores all in various regions of the country, then the corporation most likely has subsidiary collection company. They will use that agency to contact you about recouping the monies they are owed. These auxiliary collection companies are also known as first-party collections. They work hard to maintain a professional and respectful relationship with you, the second-party, also called the debtor. These collection agencies don't want to sully the name of their parent company by intimidating you into payment.

If you are being bullied and harassed by a debt collection company, then you are likely dealing with a debt buyer. These companies buy your debt from the creditor. They then proceed to strong-arm the debtor into paying their debt under threat of litigation. Trustworthy third-party collection agencies treat the debtor in much the same manner that first-party companies do. They want to make sure that you do not feel pressured or overwhelmed during their process of trying to recovery a debt. They want to make the experience positive overall, and they know that if all goes well, the creditor will hire them again.

The best way to avoid falling into debt in the first place is make the educated purchases. Ask yourself if you need whatever service or product you are considering purchasing. Life happens, though. If you ever think you may not be able to make a timely payment contact the company you owe as soon as possible. They will work with you because they want to keep you as a customer. Make smart choices and you won't have to worry about collection companies.




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