Keeping on the right trail
Published Friday 14 March 2008
By Margo Kidd, Trace Manager at the Lewis Group
Tracing, or rather ‘mis-tracing’, continues to dominate recent debate in the industry and is an area of understandable consumer concern. Debtors who move away without informing their creditors are an increasing problem for lenders and debt collection companies alike, and while it must be said that not all debtors intentionally neglect to update their address details, the net result is still the same; it is impossible to collect a debt if you do not know where the debtors live.
Tracing is an essential part of debt collection. It is vital to reduce the amount of ‘gone-away’ debtors, and when accurate details are passed onto the collections agency, they clearly stand a much higher chance of recovering the debt.
However, accuracy is the watchword. Whilst it is understandably difficult to trace someone who does not want to be found, it has to be balanced with the need for observing the very highest levels of professionalism and best-practice when exercising ones tracing duties.
Credible Data
Various methods can and typically will be deployed to ensure the accuracy of a trace: most tracing agencies, for example, will have access to commonly-available databases; accessing electoral roll and telephone directories as a starting point, with the gathering of information via the telephone having the biggest advantage.
However, these methods are not foolproof. A debtor that doesn’t want to be found is a difficult person to track down. Ever more people are choosing to be ex-directory or opting out of the electoral roll (neither is a crime) while greater compliance and regulations such as the 1998 Data Protection Act further impact the way traces are carried out.
Yet despite these challenges and the recent negative publicity, ethics and accuracy can and need to go hand in hand.
To ensure the highest levels of accuracy and integrity, agencies need to have rigorous quality checks in place. Tracing records must show proven transparent methods with validation of information being paramount. Tracing agencies need to be meticulous in their methodology, ensuring the identity of the person has been corroborated. The entire process is honest and discreet, using neither subterfuge nor any method that could cause embarrassment or distress to the individual concerned. The debtors’ privacy must be guarded to maintain the reputation of all parties.
The usual turn-around time allowed for a trace is 28 days, a reasonable period that allows for collation, investigation and corroboration of information gathered. A robust quality-checking regime is essential to ensure clean and accurate trace methods. For example, all contacts might be linked to records and a database, with each detail and piece of information being logged into the system by the tracing agent. Supervisors may ensure that the process is being followed correctly with regular monitoring and auditing.
Of course, not every trace will be successful. It is imperative however that the agency should be able to demonstrate the procedures that have been followed, the steps that have been taken, and show that nothing has been missed or overlooked before reporting to the client. When in doubt, it is better to send an unsuccessful report to the client than provide them with ‘unreliable’ information which will undoubtedly prove worthless anyway.
Details should only be passed onto the client if the tracing agent is 100% sure and confident that the correct person has been found. Additional checks are always carried out to corroborate the identity before referring the case back to a client.
The Information Commissioners Report (May 2006) highlighted a number of concerns regarding obtaining/trading in personal data by means of rogue practices such as corruption and ‘blagging’ or subterfuge. It is an unfortunate fact that every industry will attract ‘rogue traders’ who have no regard for anything other than making a ‘quick buck’. The onus is therefore on those of us who trace with integrity and reliability to raise the perceptions and standards of the industry.