Weekly Blog by Philip King, CEO of the ICM - A positive step for debt management'

The OFT published its Debt Management (and Credit Repair Services) Guidance last week, following consultation last year, and this represents a positive step in improving compliance across the debt management sector. The guidance can be found here and will also be signposted in the ICM Briefing due to be issued to members shortly after Easter. Three things have struck me as worthy of note from an ICM perspective.

Firstly, credit professionals should be aware of the creditors' responsibilities highlighted in the guidance. For example, in paragraph 3.48, it says "the OFT expects creditors to have appropriate regard to this guidance when dealing with third parties acting on the client's behalf. Creditors should not refuse to deal with a debt management business or other third party unless the debt management business or third party failed to comply with relevant consumer protection legislation and/or have appropriate regard to this guidance. Under such circumstances, the creditor should be able to satisfy the OFT that it has an objectively justifiable basis for refusing to deal with the other party if asked to do so. Creditors who provide advice to customers who are behind with their payments should have regard to the spirit of this guidance". This, together with the following paragraph 3.49, is particularly relevant to many credit professionals and we should be mindful of it.

Secondly, I am pleased that our contribution to the training within the sector has been recognised. The guidance says that "licensees should have adequate training in place for staff, agents (such as self-employed debt advisers) and franchisees acting on their behalf, to ensure they are sufficiently skilled and knowledgeable to carry out their role", and the ICM is included in the list of examples of accredited training.

Finally, the example of unfair or improper business practice have been modified with the reference to dividing available income between debts in proportion to their size being removed. The Institute argued that the requirement to introduce what, in some cases, would be subjective judgment could be unhelpful to creditors and work to their detriment. I'm pleased our voice was heard and is reflected in the final version.

P.S: I'm on holiday next week and have been reliably informed I will be having a week free of Twitter, blogs and email so I'm delighted my good friend Josef Busuttil (my counterpart at the Maltese Association of Credit Management) has agreed to write a guest blog.

Weekly Blog by Philip King, CEO of the ICM - 'Joined up thinking benefits customer'

I recently experienced, at close hand, the efforts of the police, local authorities, and other agencies attempting to work together to protect a vulnerable child. What it demonstrated to me is that acting independently creates frustration for all those involved or affected, prevents the best outcome being achieved and, indeed, stands in the way of getting the required result.

The same could be said of business. In far too many businesses we hear about the 'them and us' attitude that exists between sales and credit departments and how neither party is at fault when something goes wrong.

Take for example my own experience last week when I checked into a hotel ahead of the ICM Regional Roadshow in Sheffield. It was late and I was tired. I took the lift to the fourth floor only to find that the key card wouldn't open the door to room 411 (a not unusual occurrence in my experience) so I returned to reception and had the key card re-coded. The new key worked perfectly but as I stepped into 'my' room I realised from the bags on the bed and the clothes on the floor that somebody had got there first.

I returned to reception and was moved to a new room that was mercifully vacant. On my third visit to the Reception desk, I asked the very pleasant young lady why she didn't feel the need to apologise for the inconvenience I had been caused. Since the card coding machine malfunction wasn't her fault, and someone else had made the error that resulted in me being booked into an already occupied room, it was clear - in her mind at least - that there was nothing for her to apologise for!

Wherever we sit in an organisation, but especially as credit professionals, when we communicate with customers, suppliers or any other stakeholder, how we respond reflects on our business and how it is viewed. As Glen Bullivant reminded us at the Sheffield Roadshow last week, credit management - whether we like it or not - is customer service because we face the customer, we talk to the customer, and we manage the customer. Doing it well, and working effectively with all other parts of the business, is just one way in which we add real value. I'm reminded that someone once said: 'There's no pleasure in knowing the hole is in the other end of the boat'.

Oh, and if you were in room 411 at the Park Inn, Sheffield last Wednesday, you had a very lucky escape!