Actioning broken voluntary deduction (direct debit) arrangements 107-05040020

Use the Debt Recovery script to action a broken direct debit:

• for active (outbound) recovery, go to Step 2
• for assisted (inbound) recovery, go to Step 3

Broken recovery arrangements are allocated by Workload Manager in Customer First:

• select Inbox from the left hand menu
• in the Agent Inbox drop down menu, change the selection to Work Management
• select Ready for work if there are no activities in the inbox that need action

Check the customer's record for a history of broken arrangements. Review:

• Payment Arrangement List (OPAL) for previous arrangements made to avoid other recovery action
• Repayment History (OPRH) for customer payments as per their agreed arrangement. A direct debit payment shows as received on the day it was due from the customer's financial institution account. If the Reserve Bank is unable to deduct the payment from the customer's financial institution account:
• the payment will reverse
• will show as a negative payment approximately 3 days later
• Repayment schedule (OPRS) for repayments already missed
• Document List (DL) for broken arrangements without unforeseen events or financial hardship
• Key Dates (OPKD) for letters issued
• Income and Assets (ITS) for capacity to pay the debt in full

For:

• active recovery, go to Step 4
• assisted recovery, go to Step 5

Make a reasonable effort to contact the customer.

If leaving messages, follow Safeguarding customer privacy when raising and recovering debts.

Was customer contact successful?

• Yes, go to Step 5
• No, go to Step 9

Safeguard the customer's privacy before discussing the reason for the call.

Check OPVD to ensure the customer’s financial institution details are entered correctly.

Discuss:

• the reason the arrangement broke
• the customer’s capacity to pay
• if the payment method is suitable
• the customer’s willingness to pay the outstanding amount
• the customer’s payment history

Has the customer missed paying, or paid less because of an unforeseen event or financial hardship?

• Yes, go to Step 6
• No, go to Step 7

Consider whether the customer is experiencing vulnerability based on the reasons provided.

Offer additional support services if appropriate, such as;

• Payment and Service Finder
• Referral to external support services

If the customer advises they are experiencing vulnerability, such as family and domestic violence or self-harm, consider a Short-Term Hardship (STH) temporary write off. See Identifying customer vulnerability and risk issues and/or Family and domestic violence.

Is the customer experiencing vulnerability?

• Yes, offer to apply a STH temporary write off. If the customer:
• accepts, see Temporary write off of Centrelink debts. Document the initial amount offered and reason for the decision
• declines, go to Step 7
• No, go to Step 7

Tell the customer that to negotiate their repayment to the amount offered, more details are required about their circumstances.

The aim is to negotiate an amount that recovers the debt in the shortest time possible, without placing the customer in hardship.

Note: non-current customers may have unknown sources of income and the income and asset information held on record may not be correct.

Capture as much detail as possible about the customer’s financial circumstances to ensure the amount accepted reflects their capacity to pay. Household income and expenses should be considered when a customer and partner are living together,

The customer may have already provided this information earlier in the call. If further details are needed, some suggested questions to ask are:

• ‘To help us decide the most appropriate arrangement, I need to understand a little more about your current circumstances. Can you tell me more about what’s happening at the moment?’
• ‘Is there anything else impacting your ability to make repayments?’
• ‘Has anything happened recently to make it harder for you to make repayments?’
• ‘Can you give me an idea of what kind of income and expenses you have?’
• ‘How long might you need this assistance for?’

Actively listen to the customer and acknowledge the customer’s circumstances and responses provided.

Strategic Debt Recovery staff only:

• a further assessment of the customer’s financial circumstances may be required to verify the customer’s true capacity to repay the debt if:
• there is reason to believe the customer has a higher capacity to repay, or
• there is doubt about their circumstances

See Financial circumstance assessment for debt recovery.

Does the customer have the capacity to maintain a suitable arrangement?

• Yes, go to Step 9
• No, defer payment. See Temporary write off of Centrelink debts. Document the initial amount offered and reason for the decision

Use the Debt Recovery script to action a broken direct debit arrangement.

If the script is unavailable, manually end the arrangement:

• on the Activity List (AL) screen, 'S'elect the DMN/RCV broken activity > [Enter]
• on the Payment Arrangement List (OPAL), 'S'elect the VOL/BKN arrangement > [Enter]
• on the Direct Deduction (OPVD) screen, in the Cease Date field, key T (today)
• the direct debit arrangement will show on OPAL as VOL CAN

If another arrangement is needed and attempts to contact the customer have been:

• successful, see Arranging cash repayments to recover debts
• unsuccessful, and the debt value is:
• over $1,500, a no arrangement (NOARR) activity will generate after one day. DOC the attempt using the Unsuccessful Engagement Fast Note. Procedure ends here
• under $1,500, go to Step 10

If another arrangement is not needed, go to Step 11.

When a broken arrangement is ceased for debts under $1,500, a no arrangement (NOARR) activity will not generate.

Staff must make a reasonable effort to contact the customer.

Was customer contact successful?

• Yes, see Arranging cash repayments to recover debts
• No, staff must:
• DOC the attempt using the Unsuccessful Engagement Fast Note
• send a ‘Request client to contact office by phone’ (Q164) letter
• DOC the record and include the address to which the letter was sent to

Procedure ends here.

Record the details in a DOC with the following information:

• in Ext Detail: Recovery: VOL Arr Ceased
• in the Txt field, record:
• CRN balance
• Date of dishonoured payment
• Debt Id's
• Q999 issued: Yes/No
• Reason for ceasing arrangement
• all relevant details of the discussion if the customer was contacted
• close the DOC