Introduction To Grouping Debtors

In collections, there are times when there is one Debtor with multiple debts and these accounts have to be connected together to prevent redundant working of the account, which these days, can lead to a debtor complaint. This can be achieved by two different methods (The criteria you will define for these methods is found under \System\Preferences\Plans and Reference Tables\Account Matching Setup):

1. A Batch Process which surveys a number of accounts against the whole database on the basis of parameters you have designated to define a match. Accounts meeting the matching criteria are automatically grouped together. Matching criteria can be up to twenty-four different fields on Boolean AND/OR logic which is used to approve or reject a match. Example: Debtor Name and/or SAN and/or DOB and/or Driver's License and/or Address is the most common matching criteria used. It is possible to control grouping to within client restrictions if you have client portfolios that require isolation from other clients' business.

2. This is an Ad Hoc Process that responds to manual new debtor entry or when you make any demographic changes on an existing account. If the system detects a possible match in your database as a whole, it will pop up a window of possible matches and ask you if you want to group these debtors.

There is no limit to how many accounts can be grouped together. The only exclusion is that each group of debtors becomes exempt from being added to another group. This is a safety precaution to make sure that one Debtor could not simultaneously belong to more than one Debtor Group, which could result in a complaint as a result of an account being overworked.

Once accounts are grouped together, you are free to institute your company standard for handling multiple accounts for one Debtor. Every agency has their own method of preference - one Collector works the group, multiple Collectors can work the group but must work cooperatively with each other if one Collector is setting up terms on all the accounts, order of operations is largest balance first or highest commission rate client first. Collect! does not currently impose any method that you must adhere to.

You can easily navigate through grouped accounts to quickly obtain information for any group member by clicking the arrow keys to either side of the yellow Group button in the upper central area of the Debtor screen, OR, click the Group Tab in the lower portion of the Debtor screen to get a Group window with a summary of each account in the group, inclusive of a Group total balance owing. The Group Tab is the most informative if a Collector is speaking to a Debtor and needs to have ready information regarding who all of the Creditors are, what the balance on each account is, etc.

See Also

- How To Group Debtors