Actioning broken regular/irregular cash arrangements 107-05040010

Broken recovery arrangements are allocated by Workload Manager and will display as a 'No Arrangement' (NOARR) work item.

To receive a new work item in Work Optimiser, see Work Optimiser for staff.

If a Single Touch Payroll (STP) Display On Access (DOA) DOC appears when accessing the customer record, and the Broken Arrangement work item is allocated to non STP Recovery trained staff, see Table 1 > Step 2 in Single Touch Payroll debt recovery data match.

Use the Debt Recovery script to action a broken arrangement.

For active (outbound) recovery, go to the Payment Arrangement List (OPAL) screen. The most recent current or broken arrangements will show at the top.

If the arrangement is a broken irregular arrangement (IRR BKN) and the customer:

• has another arrangement in place, check the Document List (DL) and the Income and Asset Task Selections (ITS) screen. If the record indicates the customer has:
  • capacity to pay the IRR payment, go to Step 5
  • no capacity to pay the IRR payment, go to Step 11
• only has the IRR BKN arrangement in place, go to Step 5

Otherwise, go to Step 3.

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

• Payment Arrangement List (OPAL) for previous arrangements made to avoid other recovery action
• Repayment History (OPRH) for customer payments as per their agreed arrangement
• 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
• Process Direct Repayment Status (OPPR) or (OPPRD) for pending cash payments and receipted payments towards Child Care Subsidy (CCS) debts

Has the customer continued to make payments (according to their arrangement) since missing a payment?

• Yes, go to Step 12
• No, go to Step 4

If the customer has a poor payment history, consider different payment methods. For example, if a payment method breaks more than once, it may not be suitable to use this method again. Consider a direct debit arrangement for when the customer's wage is paid.

Note: some phone contact may be required, follow BAU process.

For active recovery from a:

• current customer, go to Step 6
• non-current customer, go to Step 5

For non-current customers with a broken regular/irregular cash arrangement in place, consider:

• contacting them if there:
  • is recent contact or a known change in the customer’s circumstances
  • is a history of compliance, and this is the first or one-off missed payment
  • are multiple broken arrangements with no successful engagement
• if the customer has contacted after receiving the reminder SMS

Is contact with the customer required?

• Yes, go to Step 7
• No, go to Step 11

If the customer is current and has a broken regular/irregular cash arrangement in place, consider if the customer:

• is receiving a Centrelink payment with withholdings in place and the customer is meeting their current obligations:
  • do not cease a withholdings arrangement to enter into a cash arrangement. The withholdings arrangement will automatically restart the next day
• has since become current and the cash arrangement has broken, contact may not be appropriate, investigate the record to determine if contact is required

See Withholdings to make a withholdings arrangement.

Is contact with the customer required?

• Yes, go to Step 7
• No, go to Step 11

Make reasonable effort to contact the customer by phone, if required.

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

Be aware of customer’s experiencing vulnerability. See Identifying customer vulnerability and risk issues.

Was contact with the customer successful?

• Yes, go to Step 8
• No:
  • DOC the attempt, use Fast Note - select Auto text, use Debt Recovery > Unsuccessful Engagement > Unsuccessful Engagement Fast Note
  • go to Step 12

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

Discuss the:

• reason why the customer did not make the payment
• suitability of the payment method
• customer’s:
  • capacity to pay
  • willingness to pay the outstanding amount
  • payment history

Before ending the broken arrangement, consider if coding a missed payment can reset the arrangement status from BKN to CUR allowing the customer to continue the existing arrangement.

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

• Yes, go to Step 9
• No, go to Step 12

Consider if 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. Determine how to best assist the customer. 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 10
• No, go to Step 11

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

Aim 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 make sure 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 more details are needed, ask questions such as:

- 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 their circumstances and responses.

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
• doubt about their circumstances

See Financial circumstance assessment for debt recovery.

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

• Yes, for:
  • BKN CSH, go to Step 12
  • BKN IRR, go to Step 13
• No, defer payments. See Temporary write off of Centrelink debts. Document the initial amount offered and reason for the decision

When speaking with the customer, tell them to continue making payments according to their arrangement and explain:

• their payment can be missed
• it is important to contact if they cannot pay by the due date
• the recovery actions that may take place under the cost effectiveness guidelines

If there is no contact with the customer, coding a missed payment can reset the arrangement status from BKN to CUR allowing the customer to continue the existing arrangement.

See Updating payment arrangement schedule and code the missed payment, go to Step 13.

Procedure ends here.

Before ending the broken arrangement, consider if coding a missed payment can reset the arrangement status from BKN to CUR allowing the customer to continue the existing arrangement.

Use the Debt Recovery script to action a broken arrangement, where possible.

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 CSH BKN or IRR BKN arrangement > [Enter]
• in the Cease date field, key T for today on either the:
  • Regular Cash Payments (OPRC) screen > [Enter], or
  • Irregular Cash payments (OPIC) screen > [Enter]
• the cash arrangement will show on the OPAL screen as CSH CAN

Is another arrangement needed?

• Yes. If customer contact has been made, see Arranging cash repayments to recover debts. If customer contact has not been made and the debt value is:
  • over $1,500, a no arrangement (NOARR) activity will generate after 1 day. DOC the attempt, use Fast Note, select Auto Text, use Debt Recovery > Unsuccessful Engagement. Procedure ends here
  • under $1,500, go to Step 14
• No, go to Step 15

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, use Fast Note, select Auto Text, use Debt Recovery > Unsuccessful Engagement
  • 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.

When an arrangement has been ceased, record a DOC with the following details:

• in Ext Detail: Recovery: IRR/CSH Arr Ceased
• in the Txt field, record:
  • CRN balance
  • Debt Id(s)
  • date(s) of payments that were not made
  • reason for ceasing arrangement: for example, unable to contact customer
  • specific details of warnings of other recovery action
  • any relevant details of the discussion if the customer was contacted
  • close the DOC

When a payment has been missed, record these details on a DOC:

• in Ext Detail: Recovery: Missed payments
• in the Txt field, record:
  • CRN balance
  • Debt Id(s)
  • date(s) of payments that were missed to bring payment back to a CUR arrangement
  • reason for missing payment. For example, customer has continued to make payments as per agreed arrangement
  • specific details of warnings of other recovery action
  • any relevant details of the discussion if the customer was contacted
  • close the DOC