A day in the life… The doorstep collector Special report - Issue Date: 1 A

pril 2010
As increasing numbers of people find themselves in financial difficulty, more de
btors than ever before are putting off paying back their debts. Ashley Armstrong
spends a day with a doorstep collector as he tries to get the "won’t pays" to c
ough up
"This is a great area," Richard beams when I meet him on a bright winter’s day a
t Chelmsford rail station. Richard Mayhew, UK field manager at debt collection f
irm Scotcall, isn’t talking about the good transport links, or the flattering gl
ow the sun casts on the town – he is referring to the swarms of council houses a
nd the high number of poor people, which makes it a great area for collecting de
bt.
"We tend to work on council estates. The poorer the area you work on the better
it is and the more money you can collect – plus you get to meet some great peopl
e", he says.
This part of Chelmsford is largely made up of weaving cul-de-sacs and council ho
uses. We will be stopping at a total of 38 CM postcodes, hoping to rake in debts
owed by Chelmsford residents.
Rich explains how it all works: "We tend to give a collection agent a postcode a
rea and the collection work is linked to that. They then work out a route and si
mply knock on the door and ask for the money." Debtors normally receive a letter
first, following final demand letters on bills, and are given the options to pa
y by cheque or giro. If they fail to do so doorstep collectors are the next opti
on.
15:15
As we set off on the road Richard explains how the debts end up in his hands: "S
ome people have got a dispute and refuse to pay what they owe on that basis. But
then there are some people who just can’t be bothered to go down the post offic
e."
Most of the people we call on over the course of the day are on benefits or a lo
w income. "Many of them pay just £5 once a week or every fortnight. We’re trying
to encourage them to pay more – it helps them clear their debts quicker, and it
’s better for business."
He adds: "Some people expect me to drive round every week to collect a quid – bu
t we’ve got to make a living, and it just doesn’t add up economically." This mor
ning Richard has touched base with his team of collectors and managed his worklo
ad from a wide-ranging client base including telecoms companies, catalogue firms
and utility groups using the laptop in his car – his "mobile office".
15:20
Rather anti-climatically, at the first house we visit there is no one at home. R
ich pops a calling card in an envelope through the door and hopes they call. As
we stride up to the next house I ask what his worst encounter has been on a door
step. "I’ve had a cup of tea thrown over me and a dog bite," he says. I prod fur
ther, cautiously asking what kind of dog it was. "An alsatian," he replies. Rich
ard nonchalantly opens a gate to a house and marches through, dogs barking close
by. I hesitate, prompting him to add casually: "It was just one of my regular c
ustomers, nothing serious – just a trip to casualty."
15:30
The next place we set out for is a council block. After being buzzed inside we c
limb a dark and dingy stairwell. The flat door is opened by a woman who greets R
ichard with all the warm pleasantries you would expect from an old friend. The w
hole family peek their heads around their door to check who is calling and say h
ello, while the youngest comes to the door blowing his train whistle and proudly
shoving a toy telephone in our faces. Richard makes small talk on serious matte
rs of Thomas the Tank Engine, and we’re off again – £15 in cash collected.
The warm interaction between debtor and collector shatters the "thug at the door
" reputation the industry is often branded with. However, Richard is a familiar
face to many debtors in the area. Due to tightened purse strings many debtors ca
n only afford to pay small amounts of cash, meaning it takes a lot of regular vi
sits from Richard before their debts are cleared.
Part of the friendly interaction is also down to Richard’s attitude. While he is
quick to make small talk, he sticks to pleasantries. He makes a conscious effor
t never to pry or comment on the financial situation of the debtors – or custome
rs, as he prefers to call them.
He tells me: "I never mention the word debt. I might say that they have an outst
anding balance or an outstanding bill. They know they have a problem and they do
n’t need someone rubbing it in."
15:45
An elderly man answers the next door we knock on. After a moment of blankness he
calls his wife, who fetches a sandwich bag containing five iron-flat £20 notes.
The payment is from the elderly woman’s son who has racked up the debt and has
given her the money to clear it with the collector. Richard hands back a card sa
ying the debt balance is now nil and nothing is owed. "Hang on to this and make
sure he looks after it for a few years, just in case," he urges the woman.
15:55
We encounter the first flicker of hostility at the next house. A man suspiciousl
y eyes up Richard’s Scotcall jacket when we inquire whether his partner is at ho
me. We are met with a curt response that she is cooking and asked what it regard
s. Due to data protection laws Richard cannot pass on a message about who he is,
that he works for a debt collection firm or even a brief summary about the debt
. The man reluctantly takes over the cooking and a woman comes to the door. She
instantly knows why Richard has paid her a visit. Rich explains that he works fo
r Scotcall, a debt collection firm, and we are calling to collect a £500 outstan
ding balance on her creditor’s account. After explaining that she can split this
into affordable chunks, Richard sets up a direct debit card to take out £5 a we
ek on Fridays, when she receives her money.
Very few of the debtors own bank cards, due to poor credit ratings, so the major
ity of the collections we do today are in cash.
16:45
The residents at the next house we call on are eager to divulge information abou
t other debtors. The debtor’s partner reveals that his ex-wife, who also owes mo
ney, has moved to an address nearby. However, despite obtaining this information
Richard cannot visit the alleged address: "That’s not our line of work, we can’
t just act on a say-so from one individual – especially when it’s clear there is
a separate agenda involv ed. You just have to encourage them to pass on my call
ing card."
The woman settles her own debt and tells Richard that next week she will start p
aying off her partner’s debt. Richard says it’s common to call on houses where e
very adult owes money. He has even called separately on three generations of the
same family. "They see it as completely normal. The children watch their parent
s buying, owing money and having visits from collectors – it’s what they’ve grow
n up with. And they follow the pattern," he says.
17:15
At the next house a young child answers the door and, despite hearing a woman’s
voice in the background, we are told that her mother is not in. Richard is left
with little choice but to hand a card over asking her to call – he is used to th
e excuses. "The sad thing is when kids aged between four and five years old are
taught to lie on a repeated basis and say that mummy and daddy aren’t in when yo
u know they are. But I am probably just one of many people calling and being lie
d to."
17:45
While Richard is a world away from the baseball bat and bulldog reputation of a
debt collector, the industry is still considered an odd career choice by many. R
ichard says that in his social life he varies his job title depending on who he’
s talking to. "Sometimes I’ll say I’m a manager for a debt collection agency, bu
t when I say I’m a debt collector some people are surprised and don’t believe me
. The most common response is ‘you don’t need to come knocking on my doorstep’.
But the fact is, the people who say that are the ones I tend to be visiting next
."
18:30
The next debtor we visit initially pleads that business has been bad and he’s ha
rd up. However, with perfect timing, his young son pipes up: "Daddy’s got loads
of money." We wait patiently and slightly awkwardly as the father glares at his
son and eventually fetches his wallet. When he does, it is full of notes – and h
e hands us the relevant cash amount.
19:00
Richard says that during the recession the debt collection industry has been "bo
oming" and he’s visiting more middle-class debtors every week.
However, he says that because people feel more cash-strapped than ever before he
now has to work twice as hard to get customers to hand over money. But he adds:
"It’s a definite growth industry. The recession has brought new customers, and
new agents. People who wouldn’t normally have considered a job as a debt collect
or are now seeing it as a career choice."
While the recession is keeping him busy, Rich warns against thinking of debt col
lection as a "get rich quick" job.
"It’s extremely difficult to be a self-employed debt collector. It takes a while
to get a collection going in one area, a minimum of 12 weeks. It’s a hard job t
o start. You need to drop lots of cards and make lots of calls. And then when cu
stomers start paying you need to replace them with new customers to bring in new
cash each week."
In the last three years Scotcall has reshuffled its employee structure and turne
d self-employed managers into part of the company. The company prides itself on
its training of new agents who must accompany an experienced collector on a coup
le of rounds to see how it’s done before they are permitted to work alone.
20:00
We make our way round the last of the houses and then head to Chelmsford’s centr
al restaurant, McDonalds, to balance our collections on a spreadsheet. Rich admi
ts: "This probably isn’t the healthiest of lives – sitting, driving round all da
y and eating fast food." Out of the 38 doors we knocked on today, 18 people have
paid up. Many of them were out, and some just couldn’t afford the £5 we were as
king for. Richard says one of the central philosophies of doorstep collection is
"you can’t get blood out of a stone". But he listens to their excuses for the e
ssential nugget of information – when they will next have money.
20:30
After the cash is counted we make our way home in the darkness and I ask what he
predicts for the industry. He believes that as more and more people land in fin
ancial difficulty, demand for doorstep collection services is going to soar.
"It is the person knocking on the door that is the final nail in the coffin for
many. They don’t have to answer the phone, they can rip up a letter, but they ca
n’t ignore someone on their doorstep."