How an agency carries out a Trace.

As a Debtologist I am often asked what can be done if your debtor has disappeared or appears to have disappeared? How does an agency carry out a trace? What information can be obtained?

First thing that has to be recognised, is that not everyone can be traced. If someone has recently died or is in hospital, emigrated or even the subject of a custodial sentence. Other factors effecting if someone can be traced include that they have never been shown on the electoral roll or applied for any form of credit then the likelihood is they will not be found. However, if someone has any form of electronic identification or been shown on the electoral roll, their current location could be identified.

What cannot be guaranteed is that your debtor when found, will want to settle their debt. Before I explain how an agency carries out a trace, you will need to check that the agency data protection licence allows them to receive your information and that they can carry out a trace.

The first thing a tracing agent will do is to log on to one of the three main data providers. These are Experian, Equifax or First Credit and if sensible they will also log on to a secondary provider such as Checkit, Creditsafe or Tracesmart. Another useful tool is the UK Birth Marriage & Death register which is used to confirm a subjects’ full name, date of birth and where the birth was registered. However, due to Government changes to the register since 2006 there is now no central birth, marriage or death register.

If you can provide your debtor’s full details (first & last names) the first action will be to input the debtors’ name and last known address. Some sites will require more information than others, for example while Experian only requires the debtors first and last name and full address. If they are using Checkit they will also need the debtors’ title but only the house number and post code. The reason that the agency will use both a main & secondary data source is that the information contained within various reports will often differ between data providers. For example Experian may not provide much information on your debtor other than confirming a link between the debtor and their address, but Checkit may give previous addresses.

If you can only provide limited information such as an initial and surname as well as the address, the agency will utilise a data base such as Tracesmart. While Tracesmart does not provide credit information they can look at the details of people who were shown on the electoral roll and with luck the subjects’ first name will be provided.

What a tracing agent will be looking for apart from a current address will be if they made any credit applications thus confirming the new address or adverse information such as County Court Judgments or bankruptcies etc. This information is vital as it provides an insight in to whether the debtor will want to, or has the desire to settle their debts. If the debtor has no adverse information, then they are more likely to settle than a person who has one, two or more County Court Judgments.

As I stated at the start of this article, finding a debtor does not guarantee that your debtor will want to settle their indebtedness.

Useful contact details:
To check if a company is registered to provide credit information visit http://www.ico.gov.uk/tools_and_resources/register_of_datacontrollers.aspx

If you would like to know more about David or the services offered please visit our website www.deanemcollections.co.uk