We have been helping universities, colleges, independent schools, and accommodation providers collect unpaid tuition, accommodation, library, commercial and research debts for more than ten years.
We have been helping universities, colleges, independent schools, and accommodation providers collect unpaid tuition, accommodation, library, commercial and research debts for more than ten years.
Bespoke University & College debt collection.
For over 10 years we have collected tuition, accommodation, library, research and commercial debts; today partnering over 100 universities and independent student accommodation businesses, and more than 50 colleges and independent schools.
Truly global
In 2020, we collected from 136 countries and, of all the monies recovered, we collected 83% of it from the UK, saving clients the cost and delay of using an overseas agent in the local market.
Our success
In the past year, we collected c£20m of student debts and today we have c37k open student debts worth >£134m that we are pursuing.
Experienced
Dedicated student debt collection and customer service business operating 8 a.m. through 8 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Innovation
We continually invest in and develop new software and processes to give our clients and their customers the best possible service.
Collection success.
Of those international debts collected, 83% were recovered by us in the UK, negating the need for more expensive local agent involvement, and GDPR concerns.
China tops our 2020 money collected table.
In 2020 our student collection success reached record levels, reflecting our growing influence in the H&FE market. Below, you can see three league tables of the Top 10 countries that we collected from for our H&FE clients.
We introduced STA into our debt collection process in 2018 as we were confident that they could add value in collecting our outstanding debt that had proved difficult to obtain before. Others assured that they had a wealth of knowledge working with Universities and treating students and commercial customers with care.
Our engagement with STA has been wholly successful, with a collection rate of approximately 33%, and will improve as instalment plans pay in full. This success is impressive, considering they received some very old overseas debt that had proved almost impossible to attain elsewhere. Payment plans in place will increase the success rate as they pay in full. Also, we have received not a single complaint from our students, commercial customers, or internally.
STA has continued to work for us throughout the epidemic and lockdowns and has treated our students with extra empathy, care, and respect. STA provides a great service, and we are very engaged with their client base; and we would thoroughly recommend them.
University of Reading
Status & Accreditations.
Student Support Hub.
The fastest and most effective collection strategy depends on our student engagement speed, and not all students want to communicate with us in the same way. All students receive our regulatory letter of introduction, seeking payment, and offering multiple communication methods to contact us. Following the introduction letter, two connection methods – telephone and Student Support Hub – provide our most rapid route to a successful collection. Our contact centre reaches out to students by telephone and, where the call connection is successful, the phone remains our number one payment prompt.
For those students not responding to telephone calls, we use other letters, emails, and SMS, each containing a link to the Hub, and this self-help method ranks second for students wanting to control payment themselves.
Our self-service portal allows the student to view their account, make a one-off payment, complete a financial review, set up a payment plan, check their balance, request a call, webchat, and make changes to contact details. The portal also has a virtual agent that can answer questions. The hub benefits international students needing to pay by instalments to set up a continuous payment authority using a foreign bank account.
Treating Customers Fairly.
Treating Customers Fairly (TCF) is central to our collections policy, with processes designed to nurture agreeable customer outcomes and protect vulnerable customers.
We never harass customers, with controlled dialling and digital or written communication from outbound contact, with clear and regular instructions given to those that want to contact us. Should complaints arise, monitoring and assessment measures enable us to revise our approach by introducing preventative and corrective actions.
Full transparency.
As an STA debt collection client, you will have access to ‘Your Debts Online’ (YDO).
YDO gives you a clear view of what we are doing with the accounts you place with us for collection. Secure password-protected, you can see our overall collection success; the status of every debt, including agent notes, your invoices and statements, and the charges made on each account placed.
