I am often asked by prospective customers and new contacts how do I know that I am using a legitimate firm and that firm will act in our best interest when recovering our debts?
I always maintain that as a starting point you need to understand the values of the firm that you are instructing and the identity of the people behind it and their values. As an example, as a business, Professional Legal Collections prides itself on its professionalism and its mirroring of your ethos so that we become an extension of your business. As the owner of the business, I am a qualified lawyer and have been working in law for 20 years. I am a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Credit Management. This means I have professional qualifications and years of direct experience in the field. This should provide some confidence and credibility as Fellowship is the top level of these Institutes and is not just given away. I hold an annual practising certificate which means I must keep my skills and knowledge up to date by undertaking continued professional development and every year to the exacting standards set by the Institute. So many other debt recovery firms are run by unqualified people who have no grounding in law to fully understand the complete and complex needs of their client.
In addition to this is the need for honesty and integrity. We pride ourselves on building long-term lasting relationships and we are not interested in ripping clients off with extortionate fees or any form of membership scheme to become one of our clients. Recently we became aware of a debt recovery firm who charged over £2,000 to take on a new client, after being paid this, they did very little if anything to collect the debts and the client was deeply unhappy. The client came to us, and we recovered the debt for them with little issue or effort required which affirmed our suspicions that once these initial fees have been paid these firms are not genuinely interested in recoveries, they are simply interested in making fees. This will never be the position of Professional Legal Collections; it is not only unethical it is also completely unacceptable.
Finally, the debt recovery business needs to be accessible to speak to you when you need them. The use of technology is fantastic and streamlines processes, but this cannot replace a skilled person. Each case is different, therefore at certain milestones, human intervention is required to understand and appreciate all the elements and aspects of that case and then to consider and advise on what is the best option going forward for that client, it is not a one size fits all solution. We fully maximise the use of technology to streamline where possible whilst always making sure that our skilled staff have the necessary information to make informed decisions and provide you with tailored advice.
If you are not using Professional Legal Collections, then we urge you to question the credibility and plausibility of your current debt recovery firm as they are representing you and your business and you need to be entirely sure that you will entrust them with your reputation for them to carry out a professional job in a legal and ethical manner. We value that we say what we do and we are completely authentic in this and we welcome any client who challenges us to demonstrate our skills and prove our credentials to reassure them that we the best solution for them when collecting debt or providing specialist insolvency advice.
Dated: 26 September 2020
*Nothing in this article constitutes legal advice or gives rise to an advisor/client relationship. Specialist legal advice should be taken in relation to your specific circumstances. This article is provided for general information purposes only. Whilst we endeavor to ensure that the information is correct, no warranty, express or implied, is given as to its accuracy and we do not accept any liability for error or omission as it is based upon our interpretation of the law. Please be aware that the legal circumstances may have changed since this article was first published in September 2020 and you should contact us for specific up to date advice on your circumstances.
