Collections Officer Employment Contract UK

Responsibilities reflected in the contract

• Review arrears balances and account history.
• Contact customers through approved channels.
• Assess circumstances vulnerability and disputes.
• Agree arrangements within delegated authority.
• Record contact promises outcomes and escalation.

A realistic working scenario

Day-to-day tasks include using finance software, payroll systems and banking portals to post payments, reconcile accounts, chase outstanding balances, complete collections officer quality checks, update customers and suppliers, prepare handovers and escalate payment disputes, suspected fraud or client-money issues to the practice or department manager.

Outputs to agree

• Daily reconciliations and exception logs for assigned accounts
• Payment posting, receipt acknowledgements and client communications
• Collections plans and chase activity schedules for overdue accounts
• Handover notes and status updates for colleagues and approvers

Records and evidence

• Account ledgers, payment receipts and reconciliation reports.
• Collections case notes and chase-history in finance software.
• Client-money and authorisation records held in banking portals or finance systems.
• Incident or suspected-fraud reports and escalation records to the practice or department manager.
• Training, approval-limit and access records for finance and payroll systems.
• Work records.

Reporting relationship

Typically reports to Line Manager or Department Manager. Confirm the employer's actual reporting structure in the builder.

Authority and escalation

• The Collections Officer may post routine payments, apply standard reconciliations and update collections case notes within approved finance software access. Escalate suspected fraud, client-money variances, disputes beyond approval limits or unresolved reconciliations to the practice or department manager. The role does not approve changes to client-money arrangements, increase approval limits or alter system access without the practice or department manager's authorisation.
• Obtain approval before committing expenditure, changing contractual commitments or making regulated or staffing decisions outside the assigned role.

Tools and systems

• Finance software.
• Payroll systems.
• Banking portals.

Workplace context

• Office, client premises, remote systems or assigned work locations.

Contract priorities

• Protect client, payroll, tax, payment, credit and claim records and personal data accessed during collections work
• Execute accurate reconciliations, collections checks and handovers using authorised systems
• Escalate suspected fraud, client-money discrepancies and unresolved payment disputes to the practice or department manager promptly
• Use finance software, payroll systems and banking portals only for authorised collections work
• Maintain up-to-date collections case notes and produce reconciliation and exception reports as required

Information the employer should prepare

• the debt products stages and customer groups
• the contact channels hours and quality controls
• the settlement plan and fee authority
• the vulnerability dispute and forbearance routes
• the litigation referral and target measures