Bill and Account Collectors — Tasks

Task statements

• Record information about financial status of customers and status of collection efforts.
• Locate and notify customers of delinquent accounts by mail, telephone, or personal visits to solicit payment.
• Locate and monitor overdue accounts, using computers and a variety of automated systems.
• Arrange for debt repayment or establish repayment schedules, based on customers' financial situations.
• Advise customers of necessary actions and strategies for debt repayment.
• Answer customer questions regarding problems with their accounts.
• Persuade customers to pay amounts due on credit accounts, damage claims, or nonpayable checks, or to return merchandise.
• Confer with customers by telephone or in person to determine reasons for overdue payments and to review the terms of sales, service, or credit contracts.
• Receive payments and post amounts paid to customer accounts.
• Trace delinquent customers to new addresses by inquiring at post offices, telephone companies, credit bureaus, or through the questioning of neighbors.
• Notify credit departments, order merchandise repossession or service disconnection, and turn over account records to attorneys when customers fail to respond to collection attempts.
• Sort and file correspondence and perform miscellaneous clerical duties, such as answering correspondence and writing reports.
• Perform various administrative functions for assigned accounts, such as recording address changes and purging the records of deceased customers.
• Contact insurance companies to check on status of claims payments and write appeal letters for denial on claims.
• Negotiate credit extensions when necessary.