Bill and Account Collectors

Bill and Account Collectors typically perform the following tasks: • 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.