This course is designed for students looking to take the first steps into the world of Credit Control and Debt Management. It will give students an understanding of the principles and practice of controlling credit and managing debt in commercial organisations.

Students will be learning to:

• Describe methods of controlling credit
• Investigate methods of credit checking
• Examine the use of the courts and debt management agencies in recovering debt
• Describe how to collect debt by letter and telephone

Support is provided for up to 12 months but it is entirely up to you how quickly you work through the course. The estimated study time is 90 hours so if you average around 5 hours a week study you would complete in 4-5 months.

The Credit Control and Debt Management Level 3 course is delivered hard copy in folders which contain your learning material, assignments and study guide.

Support is provided throughout the course via a tutor who can be emailed at any time should you come across anything you are unsure of. There is also a support team by telephone.

Credit Control and Debt Management Level 3 is split into three units. At the end of each unit you will complete an assignment which you will email to your tutor. An assignment is a set of questions based upon the unit you have just studied. Your tutor will mark your work and give you feedback. If there are any areas for improvements or anything that you have misunderstood you will always have the opportunity to re-submit.

The good news is there are no exams! Once you have completed all the assignments you complete the course.

Unit 1: Credit Control

Credit

• Cutting down on credit
• Bad debts
• Sales discounts

Is my customer credit worthy

• Credit application form
• Trade references
• Bankers references
• Credit checks
• Credit insurance

Credit control routines

• Terms and conditions of sale
• Interest
• Invoices
• Aged debt analysis and debt turn

Debt recovery through the courts

• The Courts and their powers of collection
• 3 track system - Full description in Unit 2

Statutory demands, Insolvency, and Bankruptcy

• Statutory demands
• Insolvency
• Winding up petitions
• Voluntary arrangements
• Administration orders

VAT and Tax relief for Bad Debts

• What VAT relief is available?
• How to claim relief
• Tax relief

Unit 2: Debt Management Agencies

Credit Checking Agencies

• An explanation of what credit checking agencies do
• The information they hold
• How to use their services

Factoring companies

• A history of factoring
• An explanation of how their products work
• The services they can offer

Specialist legal services

• What services are on offer
• How to use their services effectively

The Courts

• How and when it is appropriate to use the courts
• Advice on applying for legal resolution
• The 3 track system
• Small Claims track
• Fast Track
• Multi track
• Costs verses Settlement - Is it worth it?

Debt Collection Agents

Bailiffs

• What are they?
• What are the costs involved?
• What are their collection powers?

Sheriffs

• What are they?
• What are the costs involved?
• What are their collection powers?

Private Debt Collection Agents

• What are they?
• What are the costs involved?
• What are their collection powers?

Unit 3: Communication

Telephone Communication

• Telephone skills
• Handling problems and objections
• Dealing with difficult customers and controlling anger
• How to gain commitment to pay

Written Communication

• When to choose written forms of communication
• Email verses letters - When is each format appropriate?
• Sample letters - Request for payment
• Sample letters - Demand for payment
• Sample letters - Legal demand for payment

How to deal with customer responses

• Common responses and excuses
• How to reply to customer responses
• How to gain commitment

At the end of this course successful learners will receive a Certificate of Achievement from ABC Awards and Certa Awards and a Learner Unit Summary (which lists the components the learner has completed as part of the course).

The course has been endorsed under the ABC Awards and Certa Awards Quality Licence Scheme. This means that Kendal Publishing Ltd has undergone an external quality check to ensure that the organisation and the courses it offers meet defined quality criteria. The completion of this course alone does not lead to a regulated qualification* but may be used as evidence of knowledge and skills gained. The Learner Unit Summary may be used as evidence towards Recognition of Prior Learning if you wish to progress your studies in this subject. To this end the learning outcomes of the course have been benchmarked at Level 3 against level descriptors published by Ofqual to indicate the depth of study and level of demand/complexity involved in successful completion by the learner.

The course itself has been designed by Kendal Publishing Ltd to meet specific learners and/or employers requirements which cannot be satisfied through current regulated qualifications. ABC Awards/Certa endorsement involves robust and rigorous quality audits by external auditors to ensure quality is continually met. A review of courses is carried out as part of the endorsement process.

ABC Awards and Certa Awards have long-established reputations for providing high quality vocational qualifications across a wide range of industries. ABC Awards and Certa Awards also offer regulated qualifications for all ages and abilities post-14: all are developed with the support of relevant stakeholders to ensure that they meet the needs and standards of employers across the UK

*Regulated qualification refers to those qualifications that are regulated by Ofqual/CCEA/Qualification Wales