Frequently Asked Questions
To try and help you we have included the following frequently asked questions. If you would like any further advice please contact us.
01. Common Questions
No. We offer a No Collection ~ No Fee service, which means we only get paid when you get paid. On a case by case basis we may request a mixed fee agreement ( legal and disputed cases ).
If we recover your debt (or debts) we take a percentage in commission the amount of which would have been previously agreed with you.
We like to give our clients some positive news within 14 days.
We begin by issuing carefully structured letters and by contacting your debtor by telephone. If we get no response to these letters we will visit them in person.
02. File Placement
Simply fill in a one page document, provide us with evidence of the debt, such as an invoice or County Court Judgment certificate, sign a authorisation letter and we will do the rest.
If the debt is a business to business (B2B) debt there may be some recoverable costs, such as interest and compensation in accordance with the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 ( valid for UK )
No. Where we cannot collect the debt, we give you our opinion as to whether further legal action would be successful, and will arrange for you the service of an attorney.
Our agents have been fully trained and we can help by negotiating a settlement on your behalf. If this is the case you will be informed of any offer of settlement and it will be left to you to decide whether to accept or decline any offer.
03. Collections
As soon as we are instructed we contact debtors directly. Sometimes this is all that is needed to spur them into settling their debt, as they understand that we are determined to recover payment. If the debtor decides to pay you directly it is no problem, we will send you an invoice for commission.
Yes. We work with a number of award-winning firms which issue proceedings on our behalf, keeping costs to a minimum.
We can collect debt up to 6 years old, but we must stress that these aged debts are very hard to collect and success rates are very low compared to more recent debts.
How is Cosmopolite different from other collection agencies?
The more we know of your customer’s finances, assets, associations, business relationships, and contact numbers, the better prepared we will be to GET YOU PAID. Information is power. Unlike most collection agencies that simply mail a fill-in-the-blank collection demand letter to your customer’s last known address, Cosmopolite is one of the only collection agencies that processes each and every collection assignment through a comprehensive “skiptrace” and background search to find a lot more information on your customer than you may already have. Utilizing the information obtained in our background search, we then contact your customer directly and craft a persuasive demand for full payment by experienced and seasoned debt collection professionals. Other collection agencies use a very cookie-cutter approach, resulting in poor recoveries.
04. Our Strategy
How will Cosmopolite maintain my reputation and relationship with my customers?
The secret is in our collection staff. Unlike other agencies that have a revolving door of average and inexperienced collection employees, we view ourselves as an extension of your business. We only employ highly skilled collectors that have the experience and knowledge to secure payment from your customer while preserving your customer’s goodwill to maintain your hard-earned reputation in the industry. Preserving your customer relationships can only be achieved by hiring the best people. You simply cannot get that with the average collection agency. However, although we employ top shelf talent, we can afford to offer our clients very low rates because we recover far more money than most agencies
How can I check the status of my accounts assigned to Cosmopolite?
We provide all of our clients with online account access to allow your company to view your accounts in real time which will permit you to review work procedures, place accounts for collection, check status, view payment history, check on invoices, and even enter your own notes on your accounts. For a Quick-Tour of our online access just contact us.
What is “skiptracing”?
This term evolved from “tracing” for “skip” customers. Skiptracing is the process of locating contact information on your customer, such as a current and an alternate address and telephone number (very important!), and can include obtaining a person’s place of employment, names and addresses of family members, friends, or ex-spouses that may have location and employment information about the customer (this is critical), as well as locating assets such as property, bank accounts, or automobiles, and much more.
I already have a collection agency. How can I improve their performance?
Most collection agencies will exhaust their recovery efforts within the first 90 to 120 days of an account being assigned to them for collection, then “warehousing” the account, letting it sit un-worked for months at a time, hoping the debtor one day decides to address the collection account. In the meantime, your accounts are not being worked and not getting collected. The solution to make the agency work harder is to limit the agency to a specific time frame for the accounts to be either collected or closed – 6 months is a good time limit. This allows you to forward the uncollected accounts to a second agency to attempt collection. It costs you nothing to let Cosmopolite debt collection agency attempt to recover the accounts not collected by your existing agency. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Are you Ready?
What experience does Cosmopolite have?
The founders of our agencyl have more than 25 years of successful debt collection and agency management experience. We know debt collection and we know how to positively motivate your customers to pay you.
Our skiptracing track record is a remarkable 85% “find” rate on developing good contact information on your customers, with our highly experienced collection agents assisting our clients to recover their unpaid receivables within just 30 to 90 days from assignment.
No matter where your debt is we can help. We provide a Nationwide and International Debt Recovery Service!
Our debt recovery agency with over 21 years of experience provides: Business to Business Collections Services, Legal Debt Collections and worldwide Skip Tracing services.
