Section 01

Two creditor relationships, two jurisdictions, one floor

The distinction between first party and third party matters, because it changes what your collectors may say and how they must identify themselves.

	First party	Third party
Who the collector represents	The creditor itself — the collector answers in the creditor's name	A collection agency acting for the creditor
Account age at placement	Typically 1–120 days past due	Typically 120 days and older, or charged off
US regulatory frame	Creditor conduct rules and state law	The full federal debt collection statute and its implementing regulation
First-contact disclosure	Creditor identification	Statutory collector disclosure, and identification on every later call
Tone	Retention-minded; the customer relationship continues	Resolution-minded; the relationship is the debt
Share of the placement	~55%	~45%

The call

The call lifecycle, and where each stage can go wrong

Stage	What happens	Where it can go wrong
Account load and segmentation	Accounts are loaded to the dialler, segmented by age, balance, jurisdiction and prior contact history.	Breach Calling a jurisdiction the campaign is not permitted to work
Dial and right-party contact	The dialler places the call within permitted hours for the debtor's local time. The collector confirms the identity of the person answering.	Breach Speaking about the account to someone who is not the debtor
Disclosure	The collector gives the required identification and disclosure before any discussion of the balance.	Breach Discussing the balance before disclosure is complete
Reason for contact	Balance, creditor and account stated. Dispute and validation rights honoured where raised.	Breach Collecting after a dispute is raised
Negotiation	Establish ability to pay; agree settlement in full, in part, or an instalment arrangement inside the granted authority.	Finding Terms outside the authority matrix
Promise to pay	The arrangement is confirmed back and recorded on the account; the creditor confirms in writing where required.	Finding Recording a promise the debtor did not make
Follow-up	Reminder before the due date; a follow-up call if payment does not arrive.	Breach Exceeding the permitted contact frequency
Closure or return	Paid, settled, arranged, disputed, or returned as uncollectable.	Finding Holding an account that should have been returned

Productivity basis

The numbers the rate was built on

These are what a certified collector is expected to deliver after ramp. They are not targets that justify shortcuts: every one is subordinate to the conduct rules, and a collector who hits them by breaching those rules has failed, not succeeded.

Measure	Standard after ramp	Notes
Productive hours per collector per shift	7.0 of an 8.0-hour shift	Excludes breaks, briefings, coaching and training
Dial attempts per productive hour	34–46	Predictive on aged portfolios, preview on early-stage and UK
Right-party contacts per productive hour	3.5–5.5	Varies sharply by portfolio age and data quality
Promises to pay per productive hour	0.9–1.5	First party runs higher than third party
Promise-kept rate	58–68%	Measured at 10 days past the promised date
Average handle time on a right-party contact	6–11 minutes	Observed, never targeted
Disposition accuracy	≥ 98%	Audited from the recording, not from the note
Login adherence to roster	≥ 95%	Measured from dialler login reports

What differs by portfolio band

Portfolio band	Contacts per productive hour	Promise conversion	Why it differs
First party, 1–60 days	5.0–5.5	30–38%	Live contact data, customer still engaged, relationship intact
Third party, 120–365 days	3.8–4.5	22–27%	Contact data stale, multiple prior agencies on the account
Third party, over 365 days	3.0–3.8	16–22%	Heavily worked, high wrong-number rate, low reachability
United Kingdom, all ages	3.5–4.2	20–28%	Longer calls; affordability and vulnerability assessment take time

Indicative monthly volume at 25 seats

At 22 working days and 7.0 productive hours per collector per shift, a 25-seat pod delivers approximately 3,850 productive hours a month. On the current placement mix that translates into roughly:

Dial attempts: 150,000
Right-party contacts: 17,000
Promises to pay: 4,300

None of that is contracted

What is contracted is the productive hour. Recovery outcomes depend on portfolio age, data quality, the creditor's settlement authority and the debtor's circumstances — none of which the floor controls.

The incentive band is the mechanism through which recovery performance reaches you. The base rate is not exposed to it.

Ramp. A new collector reaches 45% of the contact standard in weeks one and two, 70% in weeks three and four, and full standard from week seven. Billing runs from the first live dialling hour. Training hours are never billable.

Next step

Hourly billing means you are paid for what you actually deliver.

Campaigns pause, portfolios are recalled, and calling windows compress on public holidays. You are not carrying idle chairs on a slow week.

Read the commercial terms See the scope of work