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Archive for June, 2009
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
It was at the summit on Global Leadership at the London Business School that John Kingan, top dog at UK Financial Investments, Anshu Jain of Deutshe Bank, Stephen Hester, Chief Exec of RBS and Julian Franks, Professor of Finanace at LBS, all arrived at the same conclusion that a full recovery of the financial system was a long way off, despite the recent improvements.
“No one can say a system is mended when the bulk of bank lending is dependent on huge government guarantees and where the government is the main shareholder,” said Mr Kingman, who said that the banking crisis had moved on, going on to say, “when the crisis is shaken off, it will not be a question of going back to 2006. The banks will operate under a very different regulatory regime. They must also re-learn lessons of how to manage themselves and in particular how to manage risk.”
Mr Hester confirmed that changes were already underway at RBS after the recent overhaul of the bank’s senior management and that he “was turning upside down” the usual traditions of the bank and introducing a “syndication of leadership, rather than focusing the power with the people at the top.
Xavier Rolet, chief exec of the London Stock Exchange and previously of Lehman Brothers said, “Regulators around the world are doing more than comparing notes. They are looking at systemic risk. Necessity is creating a new environment from which will come a more homogeneous world.”
While Professor Franks added “If we have global banks we need global regulation.”
While this certainly mans a tightening of regulations for banks, we can expect to see a large rise in the use of credit checks as banks and other financial lenders aim to ensure that loans and mortgages that they are providing are offered to the correct people who are less likely to fall into arrears and increase the need for repossession or the use of debt collection.
Tags: banking system, credit crunch, financial system
Posted in Financial News | No Comments »
Monday, June 29th, 2009
In a recent report released by the National Association of Healthcare Access Management it was shown that the likelihood that a patient will pay the full amount of fees owed AFTER the care is provided drops to less than 20%.
With the particularly weak economic climate that we are currently in, hospitals are looking to make every penny count which has resulted in a brand new hospital operation – debt collection.
As less and less people are making payment, more and more hospitals are forced to implement tougher policies on payment with – in some cases – the patient now being required to pay either all or a significant amount of the fees upfront or at the time of service.
As an example of the new, tougher payment rules working, Abington Memorial saw patient fess rise from $10,000 per month to more than $300,000.
“Given downturn in economy, if we weren’t doing this, we’d be much further behind,” Abington Memorial’s Chief Financial Officer Michael Walsh said.
From an historical perspective, many hospitals were a lot less concerned with patient fees as they contributed such a small amount towars hospital revenue while now many believe that the patient fees are the fastest growing portion of uncollected debt.
As the economy crashes, Philadelphia are hospitals have seen their uncollected debts rise from low, single figures to more than 5% or double figures.
Tags: medical debt collection, unpaid patient fees
Posted in International Debt News | No Comments »
Friday, June 26th, 2009
The NZ Blacklist website (www.nzblacklist.com) provides an efficient market mechanism for tendering bad debts or delinquent accounts. The site, free to use for creditors, was designed as an open, market-driven exchange that is crucial for efficient account placement to collection agencies.
With easy credit all but wiped out and late payments on the increase, creditors are looking towards new solutions for recovery of delinquent accounts. An innovative 21st century solution designed by ‘New Zealand Blacklist’ not only provides a unique nationwide solution, but also streamlines the process in which creditors place delinquent accounts with third party services.
“NZ Blacklist will reduce costs, reduce collection cycle times, and expand the services of debt collection agencies
for the benefit of creditors”, said Marc Robinson, NZ Blacklist Director. “Using the latest Internet technology, NZ Blacklist will provide an efficiency and transparency unavailable in today’s collections environment.”
With a largely unregulated collections industry operating across New Zealand, creditors are presented an abundance and variety of choice when seeking a Credit Management and Collection services. Robinson, states “Accounts departments will generally have access to the Internet. NZ Blacklist provides an online network of debt collectors that is available to accounts departments and creditors at their convenience with NZ Blacklist acting as an online intermediary. With more than 40 Debt Collectors registered on the website located across the entire country, solutions can be found quickly and easily regardless of the creditors or debtors locations”.
The company states it is currently handling debts from one hundred dollars to half million dollar portfolios and that success rates are enhanced through the systems selection processes. “By identifying collection agencies skill sets and strengths then linking them with the creditors needs, we enhance the chances of successful outcomes” Robinson says.
The website plans to further develop its web services in the near future, which also includes an Australian expansion. NZ Blacklist reports that enquiry levels to and from Australia have elevated significantly since the company started in early March and that they are actively discussing options for a similar system supporting both sides of the Tasman.
“We believe that NZ Blacklist is one of the most effective and economic solutions for placement of delinquent accounts and bad debts to third parties in New Zealand today” says Robinson.
Tags: debt collection tenders, new zealand debt collection
Posted in International Debt News | No Comments »
Thursday, June 25th, 2009
The Inland Revenue plans to roll out a new tax payment system, similar to that of online banking, so customers can make payments easier while keeping track of their account.
Revenue Minister Peter Dunne made the announcement yesterday in response to a new report released by Auditor General Kevin Brady which stated that the rate tax debt was increasing was quicker than the department’s capacity to collect it.
The report also stated that at the end of June 2008 there were 220,000 cases of tax debt, with an estimated total of $4 billion.
Based on these figures and the contents of the report, it was claimed that the total amount of tax debt could more than double in 5 years unless a different approach was taken to manage the issue.
“A lot of the problem that’s arising with debt is the penalty process kicks in, debt starts to mount and people basically freak out at the idea of having to make these payments,” Mr Dunne said.
“We want to try to nip that in the bud by making the system much more people-responsive so we don’t get the sort of level of out-of-control debt we have at the moment.”
Mr Dunne also revealed that in recent years a number of new practices and measures had been put into place as a means of reducing the amount of debt, and “these had worked reasonably well.”
“I think the bigger picture now is that the processes we’ve operated really haven’t been given the sort of radical shake-up we’re imagining since the late 1950s,” he said on Radio New Zealand.
Tags: debt collection, inland revenue, new zealand tax debt
Posted in International Debt News | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 24th, 2009
PROPERTY landlords are being warned to be on their guard after a rented house was used as a suspected cannabis factory.
Private landlord Shahzad Ahmed issued the message after discovering the remains of a “professional” system at one of his houses.
According to the Mr Ahmed, of Property Investment Consultants, it will cost around £5,000 to repair the damage caused by the operation.
But police said the only crime they can investigate is one of abstracting electricity if the tenant by-passed the meter as part of the system.
Mr Ahmed, who owns around 80 properties in Lancashire and Greater Manchester, said he visited the house in Pembroke Street, Bacup, on Friday, after the tenant had not paid his rent or returned a number of calls and requests to contact him.
On walking through the front door he said he was immediately “hit” by the strong smell, which raised suspicions.
Further investigations revealed that three of the upstairs rooms had been used to house the suspected cannabis farm, he said.
In addition, other rooms were filled with dead leaves, bags of fertiliser and the property’s electrics had been tampered with.
As usual Federal Management recommends that all landlords utilise a credit check agency to perform a tenant credit check on prospective tenants before letting property. Federal Management recommends Creditsure Ltd at www.creditsure.org.uk.
Tags: landlord news, tenant credit check
Posted in Financial News | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009
“I Don’t have the time to call a past due customer!”
If this is a common phrase in your place of business, or even one you may utter frequently yourself, then you are not alone. Thousands of businesses decide they don’t have the time to call past due customers and, more importantly, they don’t want to call past due customers.
However, the fact they are past due means that you let them become past due and it is your responsibility to resolve the situation, or write off the bad debt. That’s right, If you have past due customers it is your fault! You allowed them to become past due, you were slack in following up and now you have a problem of you own making.
The solution is simple. Contact the past due customer to advise that if the monies owed are not cleared within 7 days, be it by telephone or by post, then you will instruct a debt collection agency to recover the funds. A Debt collection agency has the time and the resources to collect back the monies that you are owed, allowing you to focus on running your business like you want to.
Making that initial call may seem a little daunting, but think of it as keeping fit, you may not want to do it but you know that you should. Once you start you will be glad you did as you see the monies being recovered and your bank balance increasing.
Tags: debt collection, past due customers
Posted in Debt News | No Comments »
Monday, June 22nd, 2009
Welsh Authorities, already struggling for cash, discovered they were owed more than £78m in unpaid council tax bills.
The official figures showed that only 96.4% of the total council tax levy for wales was collected last year which sent the outstanding bill sky rocketing by more than £5m. With many councils already facing tightening budgets and being forced to make service cuts, criticism was strong for allowing the figures to become so high.
Susie Squire of Taxpayers’ Alliance said, “councils must do more to recover these tax debts and ensure that law-abiding taxpayers do not have to pay more to make up the difference. These debts will no doubt become a growing problem as ordinary people struggle under a heavy tax burden during the recession.”
As the assembly Government released the figures, Blaenau Gwent was highlighted as having the worst collection figures out of all 22 local authorities in Wales. Blaenau Gwent only recovered 94.5%of its levy, compared to Pembrokeshire which had the highest collection rate of 98.3%.
An overall drop in the collection rate of 0.2% between 2007/08 and 2008/09 was the first fall in nearly a decade.
A spokeswoman for the Welsh Local Government Agency (WLGA) said the rate was satisfactory in the context of a recession.
She said: “Given the economic circumstances that have developed over the last year, council tax collection rates have held up relatively well.”
But she added: “Councils do recognise that they have a duty to all taxpayers to ensure that those who should pay taxes do. They know it is a very difficult time for their communities and, along with the WLGA, have been working closely with the Assembly Government and Citizens Advice Bureau to develop a good practice guide for council tax collection during the recession.”
It is thought that utilising debt collection agencies to help with debt recovery could help the welsh authorities to recover a large portion of the outstanding debt.
Tags: outstanding welsh debt, uncollected council tax, welsh debt collection
Posted in Debt News, Financial News | No Comments »
Saturday, June 20th, 2009
As the credit crunch continues to bite, landlords are becoming increasingly concerned.
The National Landlords Association recently carried out a survey that showed over 71% of Landlords expected rent arrears to increase during the year, while over 67% are already experiencing problems tenants not paying their rent. 37% of landlords have experienced difficulties with problem tenants concerning payments of rent.
Unfortunately for landlords, this is seemingly as a result of companies making staff redundant as generally it is the younger and newer members of staff who are the first to be let go and these people tend to make up the majority of tenants – flat sharers in particular.
‘Landlords are clearly concerned that tenants will be unable to keep up with rent payments over the next 12 months,’ warned David Salusbury, chairman of the NLA.
‘It is a worrying situation to be in and landlords need to do all they can to ensure they are regularly receiving rent. Regular communication between both parties is essential to head off major problems.’
It is recommended that all landlords familiarize themselves with such matters as housing benefits as it may be that the amount of the benefit is enough to cover the rent.
Landlords taking on new tenants should do a thorough credit check before the lease is signed. They should also be wary of agents as they have a vested interest in getting the tenant to sign and a few are not as thorough as they ought to be in checking out potential tenants.
‘It is more important than ever that landlords are able to make an informed decision about the financial worthiness of the tenants they are taking on. A simple credit or tenant reference check before they make a decision will give landlords some additional peace of mind that their tenants can be relied upon to meet rent payments,’ says Salusbury.
Creditsure Ltd offer a tenant credit check service that is used by a large amount of landlords and can be reached on 0870 042 2380.
Tags: credit checks, homeowners, landlords, mortgages, rent arrears
Posted in Debt News, Financial News | No Comments »
Friday, June 19th, 2009
Just weeks before he left office in 2007, Tony Blair arranged for a leaky roof to be repaired at his second home. It cost just under £7,000 and the bill was sent straight to the taxpayer.
This was just one of the plethora of facts and figures that was released by the Commons yesterday as they revelaed the full extent of MP’s claims for expenses.
While the vast majority of information had been blacked out by censors, including names, addresses and key details, there was still more than enough for those interest to pick through to get their fix of MP’s lives and to pass judgement on what our money has gone towards.
Claims ranged from the ridiculously trivial and downright odd – David Cameron’s 99p staple remover, John Bercow’s £1,197 bill for a sanitary towel blockage – to the far more serious – Oliver Letwin’s £1,700 mobile phone telephone bill.
The public may indeed be interested to find out why £1,401 of their money was used to clear the same bill twice by Oliver Letwin, Tory head of policy, or why rightwing Tory Graham Brady spent £70.50 of taxpayers money on a locksmith after being clever enough to lock himself out of his own home.
In recent weeks, the Daily Telegraph has revealed similar revelations alongside far more serious ones of tax avoidance and even claims on mortgages that no longer existed.
Upon release of the report yesterday, a media scarmble ensued to find the best of the remaining titbits of information. Of course, rival parties had no hesitation in helping out with various e-mails supposedly sent to the media about claims of rival’s expenses.
With the credit crunch in full swing, the public would have been interested to know that MP’s aren’t immune from the problems that the majority of people are currently facing everyday – Mr Darling was given 14 days by his council to pay a council tax bill – or face legal proceedings. Scottish Power gave him five days to meet a final demand on a late bill. Mr Osborne, his shadow, similarly received a letter with a demand for late payment from Demon, the internet company and Mr Fox ended up claiming £70.50 on “administration fees re debt collection” and a further £70.12 on “legal fees re debt collection.”
While some MP’s have attempted to explain expenses claimed – Yvette Cooper, for instance, was accused of fare dodging until her spokesperson explained the apparent “fine” was a ticket bought on the train – it remains to be seen if the public accepts such explanations, or if they have already passed judgement.
Tags: credit crunch, debt collection, government expenses
Posted in Debt News | No Comments »
Thursday, June 18th, 2009
The CEO of Her Majesties Revenue & Customs (HMRC) that debt collection for debts under £10,000 is no longer a top priority for the taxman.
At a recent Treasury Committee meeting covering the Governments operational efficiency programme, Lesley Strathie confirmed that although HMRC will “never give up” on smaller debts, the lower sums were no longer considered a top priority.
“In terms of debt management, our priority is debts of more than £10,000,” she said.
Having come about after the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) raised concerns over whether a series of redundancies was impacting on the department’s capacity to retrieve the outstanding £25.8bn tax debt thought to exist, Strathie confirmed that the staff losses had resulted in a revision of debt collection and that staff were being redeployed into debt management.
Some estimates indicate the number of tax collectors within HMRC has dropped by 500 in the past year alone.
According to Peter Lockhart, senior national officer of the PCS, the 18,000 staff shed by HMRC since 2004 as part of an efficiency programme has meant the department has ‘not been able to focus on debts of less than £10,000’.
He said an additional 7,000 staff cuts planned over the next two years will further hinder debt collection.
‘Whether there’s a direct correlation between debt collection priority and staff cuts seems to be counter intuitive when there’s plans to cut more,’ he said
Tags: Goverment Debt, HMRC, uk debt collection
Posted in Debt News, Financial News | No Comments »
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