Late Stage Collections Agent
Credit & Risk
London, Midlands, North West
A leading business lender specialising in providing financial solutions to businesses across various industries. They are seeking an experienced Late stage Collections agent.
This role offers a unique opportunity to work with a dynamic and forward-thinking team focused on resolving debt-related matters and supporting the continued success of our lending operations.
Key Responsibilities
Account Management
- Handle a portfolio of late-stage delinquent accounts (typically 60+ days past due).
- Prioritize accounts based on risk, balance size, and likelihood of recovery.
- Determine appropriate strategies (payment plan, settlement, escalation, or legal referral)
Customer Engagement
- Initiate and manage inbound and outbound communications with customers via phone, email, and SMS.
- Use effective negotiation and communication techniques to understand customer financial situations. Strong customer service skills are important given a number of the debtors you will be handling will be vulnerable and in financial difficulties
- Handle vulnerable customers effectively as per internal policies
- Handle complaints effectively by objection handling before escalating to a complaints handler
Payment Plan Structuring
- Complete income and expenditure forms with personal guarantors to agree on realistic and sustainable repayment plans. Where required assess bank statements to assess the suitability of payment plan proposals
- Ensure all arrangements align with company guidelines and affordability assessments.
Settlement Negotiation
- Negotiate partial settlements where appropriate to maximize recovery.
- Look to balance commercial outcomes with fair treatment of customers.
Review & Monitoring
- Regularly review active payment plans to ensure that the agreed payment plan remains affordable and suitable
- Pursue missed payments if a change in circumstances has occurred review what options the debtor has available
Compliance & Regulation
- A strong understanding of compliance is required within the collections and Recoveries industry to ensure that debtors are being treated in accordance with the latest regulator guidance
- Ensure all customer interactions are compliant, documented, and auditable.
Documentation & Systems
- Accurately record all customer interactions, agreements, and account updates in internal systems.
- Send payment plan confirmation letters once a formalised payment plan is agreed upon
- Maintain high-quality notes and audit trails.
Performance Targets
- Meet or exceed KPIs such as conversion rates, promise to pay percentage, call volumes, emails sent, debit card payments, settlement volumes and payment plan review increases
- Contribute to team targets and continuous improvement initiatives.
Key Skills & Competencies
- Proven experience in late-stage collections or recoveries (60+ DPD)
- Strong commercial judgment across settlements, plans, and escalation
- Deep understanding of financial difficulty and affordability assessments
- Experience handling vulnerable customers in a regulated environment
- Strong negotiation and objection-handling skills
- Experience with personal guarantees / SME lending
- Exposure to legal recoveries, insolvency, or enforcement processes
- Ability to handle sensitive conversations with empathy and professionalism
- Solid understanding of collections strategies and financial hardship indicators
- Analytical mindset with attention to detail when assessing affordability
- Resilience and ability to work in a target-driven environment
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills
- Strong organisational and time management abilities’
- The ability to handle vulnerable customers with compassion and understanding
- Excellent written communication skills in order to handle customers effectively over SMS or email
- The ability to suggest improvements to processes and policies in order to optimise the working environment