Debt Recovery Resources recommends a company takes a close look at the following factors
1. Age – Age is the number one determining factor if an account will pay and how quickly an
agency can recover the money. Look at it like this. The rate of recovery for accounts 90 days delinquent are much higher than account over a year. So naturally we can come to the conclusion that age IS VERY important. The same collection effort is used for accounts of all ages, but the rate of recovery for aged accounts is less. There are several reason why aged accounts have a lower rate of recovery. One is dissolution. Some businesses just don’t survive. For unsecured creditors, this is a major issue.
Unless the company took it upon themselves to have a principle sign a personal guarantee, the chase is over. Business owners are protected by their corporate filings. Even with a personal guarantee, the account will be difficult to recover. Another reason why aged accounts are harder to collect is priority. If you do not have a monetary benefit to a debtor, then you lose a lot of leverage. We find companies are afraid to lose the business of a customer by placing them in to collections, when in reality, while the account has not aged, the debtor is afraid to lose the credit line it has established. Once the account ages, and the debtors feels he has lost the option for reestablishing a line of credit, then the account becomes more difficult to collect. Also, the debtor has more than likely established new lines of credit with other vendors. If money is tight, then there is no way for the debt to be satisfied AND keep in good standings with their other lines of credit. It becomes more important to pay current vendors then old vendors.
