Wescot knows over-reliance on ‘smart-data’-based tracing solutions may increase the incidence of mis-trace scenarios

wescotFor the credit services industry (and particularly those parts of the industry whose activities include tracing customers with whom organisations have lost contact), changes to the housing market over recent years have had significant implications. The high loan-to-value mortgages and interest-only deals that were common prior to the 2008 downturn have now either disappeared completely or have become an extreme rarity. This means greater numbers of people are living in short term rental arrangements or else are living with parents or other family members under informal arrangements for longer periods of time. For the consumer credit industry, this means it is often harder to differentiate genuine ‘goneaway’ scenarios from those situations where an individual is intentionally ignoring all attempts to make contact.

This has led to the development of what is referred to as ‘smart-data’-based tracing solutions. Whilst such solutions can provide a useful tool in those situations where an organisation is seeking to re-establish contact with an individual, they have their limitations (especially if used in isolation). What’s more, as Wescot points out, there is a marked correlation between the growth of these products and the incidence of mis-tracing. The company places a strong emphasis on treating customers fairly, which means it understands the need for organisations to pay due care and attention to the source and accuracy of the data they hold on customers and how they check and then go on to use that data. Avoiding mis-trace scenarios is an important part of this.

One potential cause of high mis-trace levels is the fact that the majority of organisations use the same type of credit reference agency (CRA) trace lead-generation data tools. It is very often the case that the same data sources are accessed on multiple occasions. If that information happens to be incorrect, it is easy for multiple mis-traces to occur. Wescot welcomes the fact that CRAs are taking steps to address this problem. One useful idea devised by the CRAs is a shared information line to deal with those instances where a mis-trace is identified. In such circumstances, all CRAs will be able to update their records to highlight incorrect data. This should reduce the chances of repeated mis-traces against an individual. For businesses looking for a locate solution with a proven track record, Wescot is worth serious consideration. The company combines tracing expertise with up-to-date validation processes to deliver results on behalf of clients and to treat customers fairly.

Brief Market Outlook for the Credit Industry

To accurately assess the outlook for the credit industry, in particular the debt recovery market, it is essential to look at the sector from two perspectives. Both market compwescotetition and the global economy are primary factors in how debt recovery is going to proceed in the future. Not only does the UK’s economy as a whole play a big part in the performance of a debt agency, but so too does the performance of that company’s competitors.

The market as a whole is worth approximately £500 million, a figure that has not changed significantly since 2007, despite what was occurring throughout the financial world since that year. Competition is rife in the debt recovery industry, not only do large financial institutions and high street banks have their own departments that handle debt recovery, but the market is split between a few big name companies such as Wescot and many more companies that own a small percentage of the market share. One reason as to why there are so many debt recovery companies is that if collection rates are high and the business is efficient, there is more opportunity for a variety of aspects. Greater competition for example, has forced companies to present clients with greater price comparisons.

Looking more broadly, debt recovery companies have had to overcome a tumultuous economy, which has put pressure on their operations. Prior to 2007, there were a large number of personal loans being issued which naturally means a higher frequency of defaults; a stronger economy also provided customers with the means to eventually repay these debts. After the credit crunch however, consumers have been slow to borrow money and with more economic pressure on the individual, those who have defaulted are struggling to return their debt. This means that the industry as a whole has had to drastically change their strategies to remain abreast of the new difficulties.

For companies like Wescot, the outlook for the industry still remains positive. The fact that the market’s worth as a whole has not changed in seven years despite the banking crisis is testament to this. The debt recovery industry’s capability to adapt their methods quickly has ensured its security for the time being.

Changes in compliance standards

The debt recovery industry has experienced significant change in recent times as many debt recovery agencies look to combat the economic downturn and maintain high collection rates. A significant change is in relation to compliance standards and the associated improvement in relationships between agencies and those individuals wescotinvolved in the recovery process. The financial services sector has suffered from decreasing levels of consumer confidence in recent times due to the current financial climate and the banking crisis. In order to rebuild trusting relationships with consumers, the industry has attempted to improve how debt collection agencies contact individuals, how they communicate with them and also how they recover the debt itself.

Compliance covers a whole host of aspects within all formats of business. It concerns the compliance of each company with regards to meeting regulatory requirements. Regular assessments and checks take place to ensure that companies are complying with industry standards and acting in a professional and honest manner at all times. It is hoped that changes in compliance standards will help to restore consumer confidence in the financial services sector.

Historically, debt recovery agencies have been somewhat aggressive in their pursuit of debt. Excessive phone calls, home visits and aggressive letters were prevalent with regards to the debt recovery process. Changes in the rules and regulations and increased levels of compliance by debt recovery agencies such as Wescot has resulted in improved relationships and increased communication quality between both parties.

The handover of responsibility from the Office of Fair Trading to the Financial Conduct Authority has had a big impact on regulations within the industry but credit must also be given to debt recovery agencies for meeting compliance standards.

Debt recovery agencies such as Wescot, one of the largest debt recovery agencies in the United Kingdom, have embraced the concept of compliance. The company see the financial outlay associated with complying with more stringent industry regulations as an investment and not a cost. Wescot understand the need to improve relationships with all concerned and restore some form of confidence in the financial services sector. Agents at debt recovery agencies are spending increased amounts of time communicating with individuals, assessing their situations and advising of the options available. Customers are now receiving high quality advice and guidance in relation to repaying the debt owed which has resulted in increased completion rates in relation to repayment plans.

The importance of improving consumer confidence

Wescot Understanding what contributes to sustained economic growth is extremely important in relation to making the correct decisions to bring about such change. Immediately following the credit crunch, and with families throughout the country struggling financially, the Bank of England introduced extremely low interest ways in the hope of cushioning the blow of the tough financial times. The interest rates remained low for a substantial period of time which did indeed improve the financial situations of families throughout the United Kingdom. Following these cuts to interest rates in 2008 it was reported that families had more money to spend after they had paid household bills. Annual discretionary income trackers assess how much disposable income a family has after the deduction of the cost of living. These trackers had shown that following the drastic reduction in interest rates, a typical families disposable income increased from approximately £139 to £165. This increase lasted for roughly two years after the interest rates were lowered and brought a stability to the economy in the United Kingdom.

The improved stability of the market would not last. In 2010, the amount of disposable income that a family had to spend began to steadily decrease. This was due to a number of factors such as increases in the cost of living, rising prices for consumer goods and low levels of wage growth. Despite the cost of living increasing significantly over a five year period, the average household income only increased moderately therefore having a negative impact on a families disposable income levels.

Disposable or discretionary income plays a hugely significant role in the stability and improvement of the economy. It has been concluded that in order to strengthen the economy in the United Kingdom, consumer confidence must be restored. Consumer confidence is vital in terms of the amount of money a family is prepared to spend each and every week. Should a family have a low level of disposable or discretionary income, the confidence of that family to go and spend the money will invariably be low. This results in a sterile market place and problems for businesses and individuals alike as families tighten their purse strings and refuse to spend on items that they deem to be unnecessary.

Debt collection agencies such as Wescot are a good indicator as to how the economy is performing. Recent industry reports suggest that companies such as Wescot have reported that levels of unsecured debt had dropped significantly since 2005 as families attempt to tighten their budget in the wake of the credit crunch.

Compliance for Complete Consumer Confidence

When talking about businesses in the financial services sector, the term compliance has two meanings. In the first instance, it refers to a company complying with rules which have been imposed by an external organisation, which could be the government or a regulatory body. In the second instance, compliance refers to obeying the rules and sticking to the systems imposed internally which contribute towards compliance with external regulations. The main regulatory body monitoring compliance within the financial services sector changed in April 2014, from the Office of Fair Trading to the Financial Conduct Authority. This brings with it numerous changes in terms of compliance which financial services businesses now have to adapt to.

There are five keywescot functions which are performed by a compliance department – identification, prevention, monitoring/detection, resolution and advisory. A compliance officer will initially identify any risks posed to a business or organisation, then create and implement systems and controls which protect against those identified risks. These controls are then constantly monitored and their effectiveness reported on. A compliance officer is on hand to resolve any difficulties with compliance as and when they arise and to offer advice to the business or organisation on rules and controls. Compliance is vital for complete customer confidence, helping to build up trust and improve client relationships through the consistent delivery of appropriate customer outcomes. Internal compliance systems are usually evolved through conversations with customers alongside adherence to external regulations.

As one of the largest agencies for debt collection in the UK, Wescot is by no means unaware of the changes coming in. In terms of debt recovery, the compliance standards have been evolving for several years now, placing more focus on Treating Customers Fairly. Customers today are often surprised by the approach of Wescot, which places far more emphasis on reaching a mutually beneficial solution to debt rather than demanding pre-determined repayment amounts. As an ethical debt collection agency, Wescot has long been developing standards of compliance which are unsurpassed within the industry, leading the way for others and in some cases actually helping to shape the new government regulations.

Wescot | Importance of Training to Great Customer Service

At Wescot, learning and development is a key aspect for the business moving forward. The landscape of the credit industry is changing, it would be short-sighted of Wescot for the company to not devote a lot of time and effort into developing the staff and preparing them for the new strategies necessary to overcome these obstacles. This is in addition to the customer service driven training that all Wescot employees receive upon arriving at the company and continue to develop throughout their time at the debt recovery agency.

Customer satisfaction is one of the main business objectives at Wescot. This goes for their clients, i.e. the companies that are still owed money, as well as the individuals that Wescot are tracking down for remuneration. To this end, there is a dedicated learning and development team at Wescot to ensure that every staff member is on the same page, no matter who a customer talks to at Wescot they will experience a great customer service and knowledgeable reception.

The industry of credit management is facing a turbulent future with the result of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) taking over as a regulating body. Companies that operate in this sector, like Wescot have had to adopt new strategies and business models in order to comply with the more stringent rules imposed on them by the FCA. The learning and development department have been busy too, making sure that their training programmes in the future will focus on the new legislation regarding debt recovery. It is only through working together as a team at Wescot that the company will continue to maintain their lead as the UK’s largest debt recovery company.

wescotConstant training and learning is also important to motivating a workforce. The more time that Wescot dedicates to improving the skills of their employees then they will feel more engaged with the company. This translates to a better, more efficient workforce and will contribute to the success of Wescot as a whole.

Mike Rustill is Wescot’s learning and development team leader and he brings a wealth of experience in managing in house training to the company, an asset to a company with so many staff members to keep developing.

Wescot – Money Advice Scotland annual conference

Money Advice Scotland hosted its 24th Annual Conference in Glasgow in June 2013. The long-standing event is seen as an important and informative event which is utilised by many people from varying backgrounds. The 24th Annual Conference addressed many different issues, but dedicated a lot of the event to the changes within the financial world and the regulatory process.

One of the key issues at the event concerned the changes in bankruptcy legislation, which will have a major impact on many people and businesses within Scotland itself. Also on the agenda at the conference were discussions relating to welfare provision with particular emphasis being placed on the effect that it will have on the consumer. Many of the changes that have recently been put in place were discussed at the event with many debating who will be the ones to benefit from the changes. The event gave like-minded people the opportunity to meet in one place and talk about issues concerning credit and debt.

The introduction of the Financial Conduct Authority was also addressed at the conference which was once again sponsored by Wescot, one of the largest debt collection services in the United Kingdom. The Financial Conduct Authority has been set up to deal with the conduct of large banks all the way down to small businesses and traders and it is hoped that this new authority will play an important role in the transparency of financial issues in the future.

wescotMany of the leading industry experts were on hand at the conference to offer their expert opinion and discuss relevant aspects concerning the current financial sector. The event once more played host to exceptional keynote speakers such as Margaret Curran MP, who discussed the changes to the welfare system whilst Paul Lewis of the BBC chaired the opening day’s events.

Wescot have been sponsoring the event for many years and are extremely proud to be associated with such a dedicated and comprehensive event. Wescot employ over 650 staff throughout the United Kingdom and are considered to be one of the leading debt recovery agencies in the United Kingdom. The fact that the company sponsors such a prestigious event is proof itself that Wescot are leading players within the financial sector and have a keen interest in the current issues.

Wescot | The Problems with Mis-tracing

Wescot is the UK’s largest debt recovery company. With offices in Glasgow, Hull and Saltcoats, Wescot employs over 650 people to service the 5 million accounts they receive each year. An essential part of the process of closing an account is to actually track down the people who owe money to Wescot’s clients. Committed to delivering a quick turnover with high customer satisfaction, Wescot utilise a dedicated tracing program that relies on accurate data from several credit reference companies. When this information is incorrect or not validated, this slows down Wescot’s operating time and create unnecessary costs to the business.

wescotMis-tracing as it is known, is on the increase, partly to do with the high number of people who cannot afford to purchase a home. House prices are restrictively high in the UK and as a result, many people either live in rented accommodation or stay living with family for longer. As a result, tracing has become a lot harder, tenancies typically last for six months and because the tenant only has to find a new empty property to move into, people can change addresses quickly. While the tracing service that Wescot provides is efficient, the fluid population movement in this country is proving to be a problem.

In order to overcome this large problem, credit reference agencies (CRAs) have to be diligent when it comes to recording information. False information can result in a mis-trace very quickly and this is costly to businesses like Wescot. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is taking those CRAs to task who are mishandling information and as such the process is becoming easier to avoid mis-traces. Good news for Wescot, however the debt recovery company still faces mis-traces that are largely as a result of miscommunication between the CRAs.

If one CRA finds invalid information on their database, this can be removed but up until recently, they were not required to inform the other CRAs. Because Wescot are thorough and believe in the protection of their customers, when tracing they often use multiple sources. However, when the sources are not communicating with each other, this can produce misleading information.

Under the supervision of the FCA mis-trace frequencies are being dealt with, so that in the future, companies like Wescot can move forward unhindered by this nuisance.