Professional Recovery Services Australia & New Zealand

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

There are two forms to fill out called “Appointment of a Commercial Agent” and our “Terms and Conditions”. Once we receive those forms (or click here to submit your debt online), we also need copies (if available) of the following;

  • Purchase orders
  • Invoices
  • Credit applications
  • All contact details for the debtor including email
  • Deliver dockets
  • Any email from the debtor to the client where they have mentioned a dispute or acknowledgement of the debt.

Once we receive the above information, the client is loaded onto our system. All the debtors’ information is loaded and scanned and we send out an initial demand letter or email the same day we load the account. You can fill these forms out online or contact our office and email them back.

On day one, we issue a demand to the debtor giving them 7 days to pay the debt. This demand may be made by letter, email or telephone as appropriate. We will also start conducting background searches on the debtor including:

  • Asset searches
  • Company searches
  • Personal directorship searches
  • Trading information on the business

We start looking for motivation for the debtor to make payment and locate any assets that the business or Director may lose personally if they fail to pay the debt. Within the first month, we will conduct intensive collection activity by phone, email and mail to maximise recovery.

We will manage all settlements as well as any payment arrangements. We never accept any payment arrangements without your prior consent.

If we are unsuccessful in recovering your debt, we will give you three options.

  1. The debt is uncollectable and we advise you to write the debt off.
  2. You should give consideration to commercial settlement
  3. If legal action makes commercial sense and the debt warrants it, we will explain the legal process and the expected costs involved.

Should you not wish to proceed, we will close our file and the exercise has cost you nothing.

The legal costs vary depending on the course of action. We will advise you on what we believe the best path of action is to take. We will provide you with a quote from the law firms that we recommend.

The law firms we recommend go through a stringent process to be on our panel of solicitors. They must be competent and they must be commercial. The law firms we use charge on an event basis and not an hourly rate. All costs are capped and quoted so it is easy to budget for the expected costs. You will find we have negotiated the better rates than you will be able to find elsewhere.

We only charge half the commission or we only charge the agreed commission rate on the funds recovered.

Our business model has many variations however our letter, phone call and face to face collections ensure that your account is given the best service possible. PRS pay and subscribe to numerous databases to locate debtors and conduct asset searches.

PRS earns an income on a performance base commission meaning PRS only earns commission if your debts are paid. Our motivator in collecting your outstanding money is commission, and there is only one way we can make commission. There are no joining fees, administration fees or charges for the letters we send out.

Should we be unable to locate a debtor, we quote to you what it will cost to engage a private investigator to conduct “skip tracing”. These costs are generally non recoverable, however if your credit application / terms and conditions have allowances for this, we can add these fees onto the debt.

Should PRS be unsuccessful in the collection of you account, we discuss further options with you. These options may include commencing legal action against a debtor. An assessment must be conducted on the account to ensure that the debtor has the ability to pay, and that it is commercially viable for you to commence legally against a debtor.  We may advise that you offer a settlement or payment arrangement should there be a valid dispute.

There may be other occasions where you will be quoted costs to increase your chance of collecting a debt. You are under no obligation to spend any money if you do not want to, however all options are provided to you. Legal action will be quoted to you if it is a viable option as there are costs involved. A majority of these initial costs are recoverable through the courts.

To commence the collection process with our firm, we need to understand your exact collection requirements as our rates are negotiable and they depend purely on the age, size, nature and volume of your outstanding accounts. If you believe your matter is self explanatory and you wish to commence immediately, please proceed to our homepage and submit your debt online.

Alternatively, you need to complete an Appointment of a Commercial Agent form as well as our Terms and Conditions. Please contact our office to discuss your matter and we will send you the engagement forms. Once we receive these documents back with a copy of the outstanding invoices/s for collection and any supporting documentation such as contracts, credit application, purchase orders, we will commence actioning your accounts within a few hours.

Most businesses plan for bad debts and certainly factor in they will have write offs every year. As a general rule, your 90+ day debtors should represent a maximum 5% of your total aged debtors. Professional Recovery Services can assist in implementing best practice credit management and internal policies for you whilst re-educating your customers to pay within trading terms.

PRS commonly see a problem where a client eventually places a debtor on stop credit and then allows future trading on a “cash sale”. Should any of the above interest you, or sound familiar, PRS can assist with implementing change as well as “tricks of the trade” to ensure any bad debts that arise will have the best chance of recovery.

A special piece of legislation called the Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Act 2017 may protect you, and if applicable, you need to act very quickly so we can determine if you are eligible and you are contractually allowed to enforce the Act.

Security for Payment Law & Register

The key to being paid for any transaction, any obligation, is to have security to motivate payment.

Have you heard of the PPSA?  How about the PPSR?  The Personal Property Security Act is one of the most significant commercial law reforms to have been enacted in Australia, giving you more freedom to secure debt.  The Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR) is where you register security interest for payment of any form of debt.

Motivate customers to pay you with a 7 year PPSR registration.  

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Professional Recovery Services have decades of industry experience in recovering debts on behalf of people just like you. We take the time to understand your business and provide you with practical solutions to recover your debt and to prevent debt in future. 

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\We provide a cost-effective, efficient and results-driven service. Contact PRS today to recover your outstanding debts.

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