Collecting Medical Debt With The A Collection Attorney Is The Way To Go

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When a bill has been overdue for several months, most companies will turn the debt over to an agency like a debt collection law firm.  Some debts are easier to collect than others.  Medical debts are probably the most emotionally or morally difficult debts to retrieve.  Collecting from someone whose bank account is already cleaned out from necessary medical treatment seems like kicking that person when he is down.  No one likes to do that.  That is why communication is so important.  Collection lawyers are trained to offer options of how to resolve debt problems.

Medical Debts Are Hard To Collect

Medical service institutions like hospitals, rehabilitation centers, doctor’s offices and companies that provide medical tests often do not have the time to pursue people who owe them money.  Debt collection agencies provide a valuable service for the institutions that provided services without being compensated.  While in an ideal world everyone should be able to receive free medical treatment, the cold, hard truth is that if everyone were to get treatments and care without paying for them, the companies providing those treatments and care could not stay in business. 

Do Not Fight With Your Clients or Customers

Some businesses actually have their own staff that handles delinquent payments for sometimes up to six months before turning them over to dedicated collection attorneys.  It makes sense to let a collection attorney work with non-paying clients.  When a collection attorney works with the debtor, the business is removed from exerting pressure on the client to collect the debt.  Businesses want their clients’ or customer’s business.  They do not want to be identified as treating their customers, clients, or patients in anything but a professional and congenial manner.  Unfortunately, no business can afford to ignore client debts unless they want to risk being in financial difficulty themselves.  A collection law firm will take on the role of getting the debt paid without repercussions to the business itself.

Debt Recovery Tips For Better Collections

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When you have an account of a customer or client that has not been paid in some time, you may have to become proactive in the recovery of this debt.  You can either try to collect it yourself or you can hire a collection agency to do the job for you. 

Make Communication Easy

One of the things any debt collector must keep in mind is the importance of communication.  Closing all avenues of communication will have detrimental effects on any future business between yourself, if you are the collector, or your client, if you are a hired collection attorney.  You want to try to avoid that situation, especially if the debtor has been a good customer in the past.  Most problems can reach a mutually beneficial conclusion if both sides communicate.  At the same time it is imperative that the debt be paid.  Respectful but firm reminders are the best way to make your point that the account needs to be paid.

Stay Organized

As a collection lawyer, you need to be organized.  Have the debtor’s file in front of you when you make that reminder phone call.  When you call, make a note of the date and time you place the call.  Also, write down whether your call was answered in person or by the answering machine.  If a person answered, write down who this person was.  It is also helpful if you make little notes about the content of the conversation.

Calls Must Be Respectful

The call to the debtor should not contain any objectionable language.  It should be firm but polite and without any harassment in tone or content.  No matter how frustrated you are, you have to stay within the guidelines of the law.  If the debtor seems to be stalling and after a preset amount of time there is no attempt to pay, you may have to go to the next step and involve the judicial system to recover the money owed to you. 

I have a customer or client that has not been paid in some time. What proactive steops should I do to recover the debt?

Three Essential Steps For Successful Business Debt Collection

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The challenge for every debt collector is to be paid.  He either wants to be paid himself or, if he is working for a client, he wants his client to receive the money that is owed to him.  It is often difficult to determine who is sincerely trying to pay their bills but is unable to through no fault of their own, or who just doesn’t care that he is in default.  There are numerous reasons why a person may have legitimate problems meeting payments.  A good collection attorney will work with the debtor.  Open communication routes are the best way to get debts settled.

Know the Law

Every day, debt collectors face disgruntled debtors who cannot pay the money they owe.  This makes it difficult to have a good attitude at times.  However, a demeanor of understanding and patience, yet firmness in obtaining the owed money, will serve the debt collector well.  Many debt collectors are either collection attorneys or they work for a legal firm in another capacity.  Knowing the law and what can be said within the limits of the law, is essential.  Otherwise, the debt collector makes himself, or herself, vulnerable by breaking the law.

Offer Solutions

If the debtor is so tired of getting phone calls that he simply declines to answer, you should write letters.  Collection agencies should have some standard letters that can be revised to the individual debtor.  Make your demands known without harassing the debtor, but also offer a solution of some type of payment plan.  If the debtor is trying to repay his debt, an alternative payment plan may be the answer.

Perseverance

It often takes many repetitive calls and letters before a debtor is finally in the position to pay his loan.  Debt collectors must be very motivated to get the account closed.  Their self-motivation and perseverance are often the tools that finally collect the debt.  This may be the key to get paid by the person who originally had no intention of paying his debt.  

What are some of the biggest obstacles faced by businesses attempting to collect on debt?

Top Three Commercial Debt Collection Obstacles Facing Business Owners

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Business revolves around credit.  It is good business strategy to extend credit to credit-worthy customers.  There are times when this “buy now, pay later” strategy backfires.  Sometimes a debtor cannot pay for the things purchased on credit.  You may not have any other option but to hire someone to collect the money that is owed to you.  It is not always as easy as it may seem to convince someone that he has to pay up.  There are a number of hurdles to cross before a collection agency can mark their account as “account received.”

1.       Excuses From The Debtor

Some debtors are truthful and relay their problem with temporary cash flow to the collection attorney.  Others, however, come up with every excuse under the sun.  Beginning with the often cited “the check is in the mail” to someone in their family died, even if that is not true, it is sometimes impossible for the collection lawyer to tell fact from fiction.

2.       Business Closing

When a business cannot sustain itself any longer, it will have to close.  This is usually at great cost to the owner and his creditors alike.  While this is unfortunate, better business practices would have prevented going into debt collection.

3.       Entering Bankruptcy

Once the debtor is in such dire financial straits that he must file for bankruptcy, all financial obligations are processed by the bankruptcy court.  A collection agency, or collection law firms, will have to turn toward the court to recover as much as possible of the owed debt.

It is usual practice to call a debtor first to remind them of their account in arrears.  A letter referring to debt collection would be the next step.  The last course would be to hire a collection attorney.  When all your efforts do not produce any satisfactory results, you may have to hire a collection law firm to recover your money.  Problems of this nature can often be avoided by a proactive business approach.