Terms & Conditions

[Anonymous]

We are starting to look at corporate debt and I wondered if anyone had successfully implemented this.

If so did you include all debt eg Hb overpayments, Ctax Housing rent arrears etc.
Has it improved your overall debt recovery?

If you have considered it and decided not to go ahead with it what were the reasons for this and the difficulties that you encountered.

Please feel free to PM if you would prefer – any info negative or otherwise would be appreciated.

Thanks

[Dawnie]

Hi

contact my Welfare and Recovery Manager

kate.clarke@rushmoor.gov.uk

we are doing corporate debt with benefits and council tax

dawn

[fran]

All debts have been recovered within Revenues here for as long as I can remember, including rents for council tenants. However, there are specialist teams concentrating on different debts mainly because of the different recovery options available. The main benefit is that we come together to manage a person in debt. Rent and council tax debts take priority over others. Recovery officers will work with us in benefits to maximise benefit entitlement because it makes their lives so much easier if benefit can be awarded.

I can’t give you any facts and figures because there is nothing to compare to. However, benefits staff now recover HB overpayments (since summer 2005) and the recovery rate has improved compared to recovery along with other sundry debts. We do still waive recovery temporarily where homes are at risk or imprisonment is threatened.

[simonh]

We considered it a few years agao but decided against it.

We hoped to amalgamate all debts (hb o/p, CTAX and rent arrears) into one and then accept one payt from the debtor. The problem we encountered was how to then distribute that payment between the various debts. Rent arrears needed to be cleared quickly because they have an impact on er housing, CTAX arrears are a priority debt and that leaves HB overpayments bottom of the pile and critisism for a poor recovery rate.

In the end we decided that it wasn’t workable. However our revenues and benefits debts are recovered by the same team and they do try and be as joined up as possible when negotiating repayment ararngements.

[Author]

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