Collections and credit control

Collections is where the money customers owe is chased: who owes what, who is following it up, promises, disputes and reminders. It also covers payers other than the policyholder, combined bills, credit on account, chargebacks and premium finance.

The collections list

Finance > Collections lists unpaid invoices with how late they are, the collector, the last contact and the next step. The tabs:

• To do today: the next step is due. A next step is set when you log a contact, the day after a promised date, and by reminder rules that make a task.
• Mine: the invoices given to you.
• Late, Promised, Disputed, Everything owed.

Give to a collector (also on several rows at once) sets who follows the invoice. Log records a call, email, SMS, letter, note, a promise to pay (date and amount) or a dispute. A disputed invoice gets no reminders until Dispute settled. History shows everything logged and every reminder sent. Aging shows what is owed by how late, in total and by collector.

When a promise date passes without payment, the promise is marked as not kept and the collector is told.

Reminder rules

Finance > Reminder rules sets when reminders go out, relative to the due date: for example three days before by email, a week late by email and SMS, three weeks late as a task for the collector, six weeks late a final notice. A rule can be limited to some lines of business. Each rule has a level; the invoice records the highest level reached, so no reminder is sent twice. Once any rule exists, the built-in weekly overdue reminder stops.

Who pays

A policy can be paid by someone other than the policyholder, such as an employer or a parent company: Who pays on the policy sets the payer, and its invoices are then addressed to the payer. The payer's page shows the policies they pay for.

Combined bills

Finance > Consolidated bills > Bill a customer puts all the open invoices of a customer due in a period on one bill and emails it. Customers marked for combined billing get one automatically each month. Record payment on the bill pays its invoices oldest first.

Payments that do not fit

Receive money on a customer's page (or Finance > Credits on account > Receive money from a customer) takes one amount and pays their open invoices oldest first, or the ones you pick.

• Part payments leave the rest of the invoice open.
• Overpayments become credit on account, which can be used on an invoice later or paid back.
• Give a goodwill credit creates credit without money coming in (it is booked as an expense).
• Write-offs of what will not be collected go through the approval chain and the approver's limit.

Chargebacks

When a card payment is reversed by the bank, Chargeback on the receipt records it with the reason and any fee: the invoice is open again, the fee is booked, and the finance team is told. It can go through an approval chain.

Premium finance

A lender (set up under Reinsurance > Reinsurers as a premium finance company) can pay the premium for a customer who repays the lender in instalments. Finance > Premium finance > New agreement takes the policy, the lender, the down payment, the interest rate and the number of instalments, and shows the schedule. Lender paid records the money from the lender against the policy's invoices. If the customer stops paying, Lender reports default cancels the policy ten days after the notice, and the return premium on the credit note is marked as payable to the lender. Repaid closes the agreement.

Grace periods and lapse

The grace period and automatic lapse of unpaid policies (see the policy administration guide) still apply alongside the reminder rules.