General Debt Collection FAQ

We currently have over 1,000 clients utilising our debt collection services. We have specialist teams dedicated to supporting the areas of medicine, veterinary, accounting, solicitors, wholesale suppliers, automotive, engineering, clubs, childcare, video rentals, undertakers, electrical, publishing, financial, waste management, estate agents, builders, plumbers, carpenters, equipment hire, in fact any business or industry that extends credit, from small businesses through to major corporations. Some business utilise our services for their slow and non‐payers, while others engage our services from the very beginning, sending us their invoices before they are even due for payment.

A debt is a duty or obligation to pay money, deliver goods or render services by certain agreement.

There is a minimum commission amount of $55 if we are successful.

When using our website to Submit A Debt please follow these simple steps:

1. Go to our website : www.activedebtrecovery.com.au

2. Click on Submit Debt on the top right hand corner of our Home Page. https://www.activedebtrecovery.com.au/submit-debt.html

3. Submit your details as prompted, and attach your invoice or statement.

You will receive an email confirming receipt of your debt within 24 hours. If for any reason you do not receive this confirmation please contact us immediately on 1300 853 230. 

We will sometimes require fees for special debt collection actions, at which time you will be advised before we proceed with the action. We will never add any additional costs without obtaining your approval first.

We accept payment via Bpay, Direct Debit, MasterCard or Visa.

Once you become a client of Active Debt Recovery, you will be assigned a dedicated Debt Collection Officer. You will be sent a welcome letter via email instructing you on how you can submit a debt for collection.

You will be contacted via email at various times during the collection process to determine whether a debtor has made contact with you or if payment has been received. We will also contact you via email for any of the reasons below:
1. To notify you of a promise to pay.
2. To notify / seek your approval of a proposed Payment Arrangement.
3. To notify you of a dispute raised by the debtor.
4. To request more information or seek your authority to proceed with Legal letters/ Defaults/ Skip Tracing/ Court Action.

Please be advised, that if none of the above is applicable, you will only be contacted once the debt has been through the entirety of our standard collection process, to seek your instructions on taking the matter further.

Of course, if you have any queries, please feel free to contact us at any time during this process.

Potential credit providers may look unfavourably on applicants with a history of overdue accounts. Both consumers and commercial payment defaults stay on your credit report for five years, even when you have paid the overdue amount. The fact that an account has become overdue and then been paid becomes part of your credit history. If they want the status of the default updated to ‘paid’ they must pay you.

Yes, we can place a default on their credit file for a period of 5 years. The debt must be at least 60 days overdue and over $100 in value. To enable us to do this, we would require your consent by the way of a Default Register Form which needs to be signed and returned to us. We then issue a ‘default warning’ letter to the debtor at the last known address, which states that after 7 days from the date of the letter, that, if the account is not paid in full, a Mercantile Agent Default will be lodged with Veda Advantage Ltd. This is usually enough to get the debtor to pay their account. Once the account has been paid we have the ability to ‘update’ the default listing to ‘paid’ or ‘settled’.

Yes, you must have the correct documentation signed by your customer which allows for credit default reporting with Veda Advantage Ltd. Also you need to become a credit reporter with Veda Advantage Ltd which we can organise for you.

The debt must be at least 60 days overdue and over $150 in value. Before listing a consumer default, you must take a number of steps including sending a notice to their last known address requesting payment and sending another separate notice stating that the debt may be listed with a credit reporting body. This is usually enough to get the debtor to pay their account. Once the account has been paid you have the ability to ‘update’ the default listing to ‘paid’ or ‘settled’. A default will stay on their credit file for a period of 5 years.

Veda is the largest credit reference agency in Australia and New Zealand. It provides credit reporting, credit scoring, and marketing analytics services. Veda’s data includes credit information on 20 million individuals and 5.7 million commercial entities in Australia and New Zealand.

You must notify us once the debtor has paid so that their credit file can be updated to ‘paid’. Even though we update the status of the default to ‘paid’ the default remains on their credit file to let other organisations know they were a late payer.

Successful debt collection depends on a number of factors especially the age of the debt. As a guide debts can be pursued for 6 years. Keeping in mind, however that successful collection usually occurs on recently incurred debts where the debtor is traceable and solvent with no valid grounds for disputing the debt. The longer it takes to submit a debt the harder it is to collect. Our Debt Collection Officers will assess each case on its merits and advise the best course of action.

The only way you can expect to recover costs is to have the correct Terms of Trade in place. Your customers need to be aware and agree that you may charge late payment fees, interest, legal and recovery costs as defined within the Terms of Trade for any accounts not paid within the agreed credit terms.

All monies collected go into our trust account for the following reasons:
1. We know when the debtor has paid without having to continually contact you. This allows us to continue our collection process.
2. We can take immediate payment over the phone by credit card.
3. We can set up immediate direct debit authorities for negotiated payment arrangements or full payment from the debtor’s bank.
4. We can offer payment by Bpay.

Any monies collected into our trust account are remitted to you at the end of each week. Bpay or credit cards are processed by Ezi debit and are subject to their processing policy. Payments received by cheque are remitted within 7 business days. Funds are disbursed to you from our trust account by EFT.

Monies collected on behalf of our clients are held in a separate trust and are audited before final disbursal. To protect clients and debtors we are subject to regularly external audits of our trust accounts to safeguard financial transactions and for us to hold our government licenses.

Active Debt Recovery complies with the ACCC and ASIC strict collection guidelines regarding Privacy and collection processes. We have standard timing and processes that are used to monitor and collect. These can be personalized for you. However, due to the individual circumstances of each debt no accurate recovery time can be quoted. Our aim is to quickly identify a debtor’s willingness and ability to pay and then apply consistent pressure to obtain payment. We make your overdue accounts a priority so debtors quickly understand the debt is not going away and that action will only escalate if the account is not paid.