Skip Tracing in relation to Debt Collections

Posted by Christian Silmaro on December 27th, 2017

A very vital component of debt collections is Skip Tracing. The majority of debt collectors take part in this activity in their everyday operations. Skip tracing is the exercise of locating persons. This exercise occurs in the collection business when the contact data of an account is not valid anymore.

As the account cannot be collected without precise contact information, there is necessity to skip trace or find out the accountable party to start the collection process and put an end to delinquency. The skill of Local and Skip Tracing develops with practice.

It is the information supplied with the credit application which is used in skip tracing. The information employed is the name, address, mobile numbers, and place of work of the borrower, and any references mentioned in the credit application. When this information is available, it is likely to look for new addresses, new mobile numbers and new places of work. Moreover, the names, addresses and mobile numbers of friends, family members, acquaintances and probable neighbours can also be helpful to confirm the correct contact information of the accountable party.

Characteristic to attaining success with skip tracing is the aptitude to connect with current data which are mostly obtainable openly and can be used freely. There is a lot of information which is precious when it comes to skip tracing. Business licenses, marriage certificates, permits, property records, certifications are only a few of the numerous obtainable resources that can be used to locate an individual that has skipped town, which is excitingly the source of the term employed in collections today. Frequently, companies need to buy access to these kinds of information, or engage a collection agency which already boasts access as a piece of their services.

The facility to track down a debtor implies that you really have a possibility to recoup debts that are owed. Or else, if an individual ‘skips’ town following a process you have carried out, or you have given them a loan of money for educational or personal reasons, it is likely that you would never be able to get back that money. Although locating an individual does not inevitably indicate you will retrieve the full debt, it does indicate the possibility that you will regain something.

If you do not have an in-house collections department which is capable of skip tracing, your staffs will be using a great deal of time hunting people down; but that amount of time they could have used in a better way somewhere else. Besides, to get access to information on contact as a first requirement can prove to be expensive. In most cases, it would be cost-effective if you outsourced your collections instead of getting your staffs coached in skip tracing in addition to their main duty.