The fourth of four MALG14 workshops, considering: “Creditors and advisers do now talk together - job done then?”

1. Creditors and advisers do now
talk together - job done then?
Peter Munro, Head of Business Development - Creditors,
PayPlan
David Easterby, Head of Consumer Servicing, Idem
Servicing
Presenters:
Darryl Matthews, Group Head of External Relations,
Harrington Brooks
Facilitator:
Phill Holdsworth, Proprietor of Phill Holdsworth Consulting
and representing MALG’s North East Discussion Forum
Scribe:

2. Workshop Overview
• Welcome and housekeeping - Darryl Matthews
• Adviser perspective - Peter Munro
• Creditor perspective - David Easterby
• Open discussion - All
• Job Done Then? - Vote

3. Adviser Perspective
• Talking IS progress - reflections on ‘bridging the divide’
• Working with Creditors - the Payplan experience
• Job Done? - thoughts for the open discussion

4. Talking IS progress
• ‘Bridging the divide’ no longer a distracting issue
• MALG / Roundtables / Working Parties breaking down barriers
• Regulation has encouraged positive dialogue
• Doing the right thing for consumer a shared objective

5. Working with Creditors (1)
• 900K creditor accounts under management
• 26K creditor letters handled per month
• 5K creditor phone calls handled per month
• 92K creditor online interactions per month
• 35 creditor meetings per month
• 8 industry events per month
• Disbursing £18m a month to creditors

6. Working with Creditors (2)
• Dedicated debt advice managers now more common
• Specialist Teams to deal with vulnerable customers
• Exchange visits to improve relations
• Mutual auditing to improve trust
• Sharing of consultation thoughts / responses
• Pro-active and targeted referrals replacing generic signposting
• Data exchange proving the benefits of debt advice
• More diverse creditor types now engaging

7. Job Done?
• Engagement and attitude varies by creditor type
• Inconsistent policies and procedures cause confusion
• Communications around debt sale could improve
• Communications around DCA use could improve
• Service levels vary considerably

8. Creditor perspective
• Historical creditor perspective
• The need for change
• Our journey
• What’s next?

9. Historical creditor perspective
• Advice sector seen as a barrier between creditor and
customer
– Lack of trust
– No real dialogue
• Limited working relationships
• Lack of understanding on both sides – were customers
always put first?
• All advisors “tarred with the same brush” – and perhaps
all creditors!

10. The need for change
• Recognition of the importance of the advice sector
• More customers were seeking debt advice
• Advice providers operating in the UK increased dramatically
• Treating Customer Fairly
• Changes to the regulatory environment

11. Our journey
• Invested in understanding the industry
• Embarked on an engagement exercise
• Developed working relationships based on understanding
and trust
• Created a specialist department
• Built a bespoke system
• Moved from reactive to proactive approach

12. What’s next?
• Continue to communicate
• Share best practice
• Identify areas to learn from each other
• Encourage uniformity / standard practices
• Support each other through the regulatory changes

13. Open Discussion
• Do both sides talk but neither truly listen?
• Are there enough opportunities for dialogue?
• Is opinion still too polarised to ever reach compromise
positions?
• Are both talking but using a different language?
• Why are messages so inconsistent from both sides on the
same issues?
• Do both have the consumer at the heart of this dialogue?
• What have we learned from converting conflict into dialogue?
• How can we turn talk into positive actions for the future?

14. Vote