Frequently Asked Questions
Is Debtplacer a debt collection agency?
No. Debtplacer is a marketplace for unpaid debt.
Debtplacer provides instant solutions to businesses with unpaid debts through connecting them with debt collectors or facilitating the sale of their debt to specialist debt buyers.
Is Debtplacer a credit reporting bureau?
No. However, debts which are listed on the platform do form part of Debtplacer’s comprehensive late payment, and payment default dataset.
Will debts on Debtplacer affect my credit rating?
Whilst Debtplacer is not a credit reporting bureau, late payments and payment defaults do form part of Debtplacer’s dataset.
Debtplacer aggregates large volumes of late payment and payment default data which is made available to third party credit reporting bureaus. It will be up to these third party credit reporting bureaus to assess your credit worthiness.
What happens if I list an unpaid debt which is disputed?
If there is a genuine dispute, we ask you to disclose the dispute when you create a debt listing.
Debtplacer exists to help provide instant solutions to businesses with unpaid debt by accessing a network of leading Collection Partners who can assist in resolving the disputed debt.
In line with our Terms of Use, businesses must not provide or input any inaccurate, false, misleading or deceptive information when creating a listing.
What can a debtor do if they are listed on Debtplacer?
In order for a debtor to remove themselves from Debtplacer, debtors must resolve their unpaid debts with the business directly.
If I create a listing, will I be anonymous?
Yes. When businesses list their unpaid debts on Debtplacer, they are anonymous until a Collection Partner has been engaged.
Who can see debt listings on Debtplacer?
Supporting documentation such as emails, contracts and copies of invoices are only available to Collection Partners once they have been appointed to assist.
What happens to a listing if it gets paid?
Businesses are required to resolve the listing if the debt is settled.
Resolving the unpaid debt on Debtplacer will remove the listing from the Debtplacer marketplace.
Is there a minimum debt size?
What are the costs of a debt collector?
The costs of a debt collector will vary depending on the business but can range from anywhere between a few hundred dollars, to a couple of thousand dollars.
To help you decide what option will work best for you, our Collection Partners will typically offer the following types of fee structures:
Contingent Fee Services
The Collection Partner will only get paid if they are successful with recovering the unpaid debt.
This will usually be a percentage of the total amount recovered and is usually the preferred approach for debt collection agencies.
Fixed Fee
The Collection Partner will charge a flat fee for getting the job done. They will set out what is included with the fixed fee but this will be payable whether you are successful with collection or not.
Unless an unpaid debt is genuinely disputed, collection procedures are usually standardised and can be streamlined by collection agencies. It is common for collection agencies to offer fixed fee services for debt recovery.
Fee Estimate
The Collection Partner will provide you with a fee range for recovery of the outstanding debt. This will typically occur where an unpaid debt appears to be genuinely disputed and requires an unknown level of negotiating which can protract settlement outcomes.
It is for this reason that fee estimates are typically provided by law firms and not debt collection agencies.
Are the costs of a debt collector or law firm added to the total debt owing?
If your terms and conditions have been well drafted and allow you to recover the costs, then the answer is yes.
If your contract does not deal with how recovery costs are treated in debt recovery, then the costs of debt collectors and law firms are typically not added to the total debt owing.
Are my legal costs recoverable if we go to court?
If you have issued a statutory demand to your debtor and this has expired, the legal costs you incur in applying to court to have the debtor wound up will be treated as a priority cost in the liquidation.
If the debtor wishes to negotiate a settlement with you after you have incurred the legal costs in applying to court, this is something that can form part of the negotiation.