RecoverOps / Partner FAQ
Section 09The questions partners actually ask before signing
Eleven answers, followed by the full list of things we will not promise you.
Do we need our own dialler, or does Akontec provide one?
You provide and operate it. The dialler is a condition of the engagement, and it must be able to segment by state and time zone and enforce contact frequency limits in the system. A dialler that relies on collectors remembering the window is not ready for this process, and that is checked at the readiness audit.
Does our entity need a collections licence?
Possibly, depending on which states are in the placement. Some states impose licensing or bonding requirements at organisation level before a single call is placed. Akontec publishes the current position for the campaign; obtaining and maintaining the registration is your obligation and your cost.
Why hourly rather than per seat?
Because collections floors do not run at even occupancy. Campaigns pause, portfolios are recalled and calling windows compress on public holidays. Hourly billing means you are paid for what you deliver rather than carrying idle chairs, and it means the creditor cannot ask you to absorb a pause that was its own decision.
What exactly counts as a productive hour?
Time a certified collector is logged into the campaign and available, dialling or in conversation. It excludes breaks, briefings, coaching, training, system downtime and any time on another campaign. It is measured from dialler login reports, not from a timesheet.
Can our collectors take a payment over the phone?
No, under any circumstance. Collectors direct the debtor to the creditor's own payment channel and confirm the arrangement. They do not take a card number or bank detail. Every control on this process is built on that assumption.
How realistic is the eight per cent incentive?
It is reachable, and it is gated. Every band requires a compliance score of 100 and a call quality score of 90 or above in every month of the quarter. A confirmed serious conduct breach takes the incentive to nil for the quarter even where recovery is above 125% of target.
Can a collector work both the US and UK portfolios?
Only if separately certified on both. The second jurisdiction requires full initial certification and is never a conversion of the first. Certification expires at six months and a collector whose certification has lapsed cannot dial.
What happens if a portfolio is recalled mid-term?
Billing stops at the end of the last dialling day. Seats are held or released on sixty days' notice, not on the pause — so a recall does not translate into an immediate seat reduction at your cost.
Who handles complaints?
The creditor. Your obligation is to recognise a complaint, log it and route it the same day. Collectors do not resolve complaints on the call, do not accept fault on the creditor's behalf and do not offer a resolution, hold or compensation figure.
What attrition should we plan for?
High, and expensive. Every replacement costs twenty-one days of unbillable certification plus roughly six weeks at a reduced contact rate, none of which is reimbursed. It is the largest single risk in the model and it should drive your bench planning from month one.
Who owns the creditor relationship?
Akontec. You will not be introduced to the creditor as the contracting party, and direct approach is a material breach. In return Akontec carries the commercial risk and pays you against the hour register regardless of when the creditor pays.
What we will not promise
This section exists because a partner who is told the truth at the start does not become a dispute in month six.
On money
- We do not guarantee a recovery outcome. Recovery depends on portfolio age, data quality, settlement authority and the debtor's circumstances.
- We do not guarantee volume of placement. Hours are contracted; the portfolio is not.
- We do not promise the incentive will be earned. It is gated on a perfect compliance score, and one confirmed serious breach removes it for the quarter.
- We do not promise a rate increase at renewal, and we will not agree an indexation clause we cannot fund from the creditor contract.
- We do not promise to reimburse certification, ramp, re-training or attrition cost.
On people
- We do not promise this can be run with a lighter supervision ratio. One team leader and one compliance analyst per twelve is fixed.
- We do not promise that an experienced customer-service agent becomes a productive collector inside the ramp window.
- We do not promise that your attrition will match anyone else's.
On operations
- We do not promise the creditor's system will be available. Creditor-side downtime is billable only up to the agreed allowance, on evidence.
- We do not promise the portfolio mix will stay where it is. If it ages, contact rates fall and the incentive gets harder while the base rate stays flat.
- We do not promise that every experienced collector you hire will pass certification. A track record is necessary and not sufficient.
On compliance
- Akontec does not claim any certification it does not hold, and will not permit a service provider to represent Akontec as holding one.
- We will not agree to a script change, a window extension or a frequency override because a campaign is behind target. Ever.
- We will not accept a floor or a dialler that is not ready in order to hold a go-live date.
- We will not treat a licensing gap as a formality that can be closed after go-live.
What we do promise
- You are paid against the hour register on the agreed terms, whether or not the creditor has paid Akontec that month. The credit risk sits with us.
- Sixty days' written notice on staffed seats, including where a portfolio is recalled.
- A base rate that does not move downward during the term.
- Named owners on our side who answer within the published response times.
- An incentive calculation whose definition of net recovery is fixed at contracting and does not move.
- Approved scripts, an authority matrix and a state matrix that are maintained by us, not left to your floor to interpret.
- Full disclosure of any control we have implemented but not independently certified.
- That we will not place a second provider on your bay or your certified collectors during the term without telling you first.
Known risks, and who carries them
| Risk | Carried by | Mitigation in this structure |
|---|---|---|
| Creditor stops paying or becomes insolvent | Akontec | You invoice Akontec against the hour register, not the creditor |
| Portfolio recalled or campaign paused | Shared | Billing stops at the last dialling day; seats released on 60 days' notice, not on the pause |
| Collector attrition and certification cost | Provider | Rate held flat for the term in both directions; bench and bonding are yours to plan |
| Rupee appreciation against the dollar | Provider | Not hedged; price your cost sheet at a rate you can live with |
| Portfolio ageing reducing contact rates | Shared | Base rate is unaffected; the incentive target is reset at the capacity review |
| Conduct breach and its consequences | Provider | Approved scripts, dialler-enforced windows, 100% audit for the first two weeks |
| State licensing gap | Provider | Akontec publishes the position; registration is obtained before any call is placed |
| Regulatory change in either jurisdiction | Akontec | Scripts and matrices updated centrally; re-certification runs on the change, not on the calendar |
| Loss of the creditor contract | Akontec | 60-day notice; where possible, seats redeployed to another Akontec process |
Next step
Raise a commercial problem during contracting.
It will not be held against the application. It is better discovered now than in the third month of a twelve-month term.
Apply to deliver this process Read the commercial terms