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A day in the life… of a Settlements case officer

Although we are a small department within Payplan, we are growing!! As I write this currently we have 10 case officers and one problem solver. Generally we work Monday to Friday 9am-5pm and take it in turns to do two late nights and an early shift each week to give our clients more time to contact us or vice versa.

I have worked in the settlements department for seventeen months now and I really enjoy it. Payplan has its own personal training academy to make sure employees have up-to-date knowledge needed for their job roles. I absolutely love learning so this suits me down to the ground.

Just to give you an oversight of the settlements department each case officer has their own work load. Currently I have almost 40 clients who I contact on a weekly basis, either to give an update on progress so far or to advise if we are waiting for creditors to respond.

When a client comes in to the settlements department it is because they have a lump sum available which they want to use to try and clear their debts. This lump sum could have come from their family, an inheritance, an equity release from property or a bonus. We discuss how settlements will impact on our client’s credit file and answer any questions they may have.

Once a settlement decision has been made we start contacting the creditors in question, get the balances in and find out if they are still applying any interest or charges. If the client wanted a short settlement we would then negotiate a settlement figure and agree on an expiry date (this is when the funds have to be with the creditor). This information is then passed back to the client. If they are happy to go ahead we would then get the funds transferred over and I pay the creditors on the client’s behalf.

Here is an overview of my day:

8:45AM

My day starts with loading all relevant systems and documents needed for the day and planning the work I have to complete. Every day is completely different to the next. At 9am the incoming calls from clients and creditors start. The phone lines are open until 5pm every day. As well as ‘phone calls I also check and answer my emails from the night before. Once this is complete I check my client’s files to see if any funds have cleared. If so, I will then distribute them to the relevant creditors. I try and share my time equally between all of my clients.

10AM

As I mentioned earlier we work as a team so, for instance if another case officer is out of the office, I and other case officers will check their incoming calls and deal with any issues. Once this is resolved we would send an email to the absent case officer to let them know what we have agreed with their client. If any payments need distributing we would do this because settlement figures have expiry dates. Some of the creditors only have certain dates when payments can be sent each month. We also liaise with our accounts department about payments.

1PM

During lunchtime there are less people available to take incoming calls so we can be very busy. Usually I spend some time working on my administration tasks and paperwork for my clients. Our team leader will assess and assign work too.

4PM

During the last working hour of the day I finish off creditor calls, which can be to check a balance or make a settlement payment, and send out all the relevant paperwork. Once this is done I make notes of all conversations on the client files to ensure there is proper backup. I also call any of my clients that need to be updated before I leave for the day.

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Totemic is voted 9th best company to work for in The Sunday Times list

Payplan is part of the Totemic group of companies who have been voted the 9th best company to work for in the UK in The Sunday Times annual list.

It has also retained its three star ‘extraordinary’ status for the second year running and is the top company to work for in the East Midlands in the mid-sized company category and the top debt management company in the UK.

A total of 270 companies took part in The Sunday Times best companies to work for this year.

Around 85% of Totemic’s 900 employees took part in a survey that gave scores in set categories including wellbeing in which the company came 5th, giving something in which Totemic was 11th and leadership in which the company was 15th.

Totemic employees were the happiest of all workers who took part in The Sunday Times survey with the balance between their work and home lives, returning a 76% positive score.

Established in 1992, Totemic started out offering specialist debt advice to people in professions like nursing, the armed forces and the police. Today a key part of the Totemic group is its debt management company, Payplan, which helps over 100,000 people each year manage their debts.

The ethics of the company are also greatly appreciated by its workers who have a great deal of faith in its Managing Director, Philip Rann, who was in sixth place for this with a score of 86%.

Staff believe the business makes a positive difference to the world (83%, in eighth place) and employees gave an 85% score in terms of pride in working for the company.

Lianne Tapson, Totemic’s Director of Engagement, said: “We are absolutely delighted with our result in The Sunday Times best companies award 2012. We have been recognised as a top 30 company for the past six years but this is a record year, both in terms of overall score and positioning in the list.

“The main reason our staff tell us they feel so proud to work for Totemic is that they make a positive difference to the lives of people in debt.

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How is my credit file affected…with a early settlement

Today we bring you a guest blog from one of our case officers who works within the Complementary Support Rebecca Sowter-Croll.

A common question I come across daily in my job, is how my credit file is affected when going through the settlements department. When clients come through to our department they often have a lump sum available for example inheritance, equity release or a work bonus. Many clients mention they have read up on forums or have been told by friends that they got low settlements such as 30%. Unfortunately this all depends on multiple factors such as; age, employment, illness, if you are a home owner or rented. All creditors have their own guidelines and policies to follow as to how much discount they can give.

So there is NO guarantee as to what a creditor will accept.

Our Clients have the following options, as to how they wish to use their funds to clear the debts they owe.

Full settlement-

Short Settlement-

A full settlement is what it says on the tin, we will contact all the creditors to get the up to date balances and to find out if there is any interest or charges being applied – they then pay the full outstanding amount. If the client opts for this it will show on their credit file for 6 years as fully satisfied.

On the other hand a short settlement is slightly different, firstly we gather all the balances in and find out if any interest or charges are still being applied. Once we have this information we would work out a pro rata offer that would be equal and fair to all creditors. I must mention that not all creditors will accept the pro rata offer, and they could possibly want more, or in some cases the full balance back.

We would them put this offer to the creditors. Usually they will want this in writing along with any documents to support the short settlement and an up to date financial statement. These letters are then passed on to managers to be looked at, if the offer was accepted they will usually have a expiry date, this is on average 21 days .If the funds are not with the creditor in time the settlement may not be accepted.

If a creditor agrees to accept a short settlement on receipt of the funds they will then write off the reminder of the balance, and you will not be chased for this. In return this will then show on your credit file for 6 years as partially satisfied. We have recently been advised by companies such as Experian that doing a short settlement is not as harmful to your credit file as it once was. If you were to take out further credit or apply for a mortgage you may find the creditor won’t lend you as much or the interest rates might be slightly higher.

If you already have a default or CCJ on your credit file, these will still stay on your file from the date of issue, until the 6 years are up.

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Preparing for the New Year

With the New Year fast approaching many of us are reflecting on the last year’s events and preparing for the new year ahead of us. For many of the people who contact Payplan, they may be looking for free debt advice or some assistance with their financial issues.

At this time of year we see many new clients contacting us as they resolve to start a fresh.

By contacting Payplan early on with your debt problems you can get everything in order before things spiral out of control. Many who come to us say ‘I wish I’d called you sooner’ in doing this they would have avoided further hassle from creditors, legal action or unnecessary distress.

This New Year, what are your resolutions?

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