Frequently Asked Questions

1. Who are Philips and what do they do?
Philips is a specialist revenue recovery & enforcement company instructed to undertake recovery procedures against individuals or organisations for overdue amounts as stated by our clients. We recover a wide range of debts including council tax bills, utility bills, magistrate fines, road traffic fines, parking tickets, benefit overpayments, household and commercial rents and miscellaneous business debts.

2.  Who do Philips work for?
Philips provides services for Local Authorities, Magistrates’ Courts, Housing Associations, Revenues & Customs, Court Committees, Hospital Trusts, Solicitors, Landlords, Central Government departments and many other public and private companies nationwide.

3.  What procedures can Philips take to recover the amounts owed?
This all depends on  the instructions we have received from our client, the type and age of the debt, as well as the amount our client states you owe. Philips could undertake one or more of the following procedures to recover outstanding amounts owed to our client.

• We can send letters and make telephone calls to you or your organisation.
• Instruct our bailiffs/recovery officers to attend your home/organisation to carry out recovery procedures which may involve the repossession/removal of the goods owned by you or your organisation.
• We could clamp and remove vehicles you or your organisation own and sell it/them to public auction to settle the amounts owed.
• We can recommend our client seek a County Court Judgement and/or attempt to gain an attachment to your earnings directly from your salary, employer or benefits.
• Serve a statutory demand/bankruptcy petition or apply for a third party debt order.
• For certain arrears we may obtain a warrant to arrest you to appear at court immediately or at a later date.

 

4.  What payment options are available for me to repay my arrears?
Philips accepts many methods of payment. We recommend you repay your arrears by using any method found on the 'How To Pay' form. 

5.  Who should I pay first?
You should arrange to pay priority debts before other non-priority debts. A priority debt is one that could leave serious consequences if it remains unpaid and includes companies, like Philips, who can take the strongest recovery actions against you. Priority debts include: mortgage/rent arrears, council tax or rates, maintenance, child support, parking fines, revenues & customs and magistrates court fines. Philips considers most of the arrears they are instructed to recover as priority debts.

6.  What should I do if I cannot afford to pay the amounts in full straight away?
You should contact one of our customer service operators and discuss the possibility of a repayment plan. Please note that Philips is not obliged to accept any arrangement and it is at our discretion to offer this option. However, if applicable, our staff will attempt to establish an arrangement which suits your circumstances and our client’s requirements.

7.  What should I do if I have an arrangement but cannot afford to make my regular payment?
You should contact Philips as soon as possible to explain the reason for your change in circumstances. Dependent on the type of arrears, your current arrangement plan and your circumstances, we may be able to discuss further payment options. You should not reduce your payment without informing us as your arrangement may become null and void and further recovery action may commence.

8.  What should I do if I forget to make my payment?
You should contact the office immediately to discuss your arrears. Your arrangement may have become null and void. Dependent on the type of arrears a bailiff/recovery agent may have been allocated to your account, to make attendance to your premises to commence full recovery procedures to clear the arrears. This may involve the removal of goods owned by you or your organisation.

9.  Who pays the cost of recovery, what does it cost and when?
Depending on the type of the debt you owe, costs may be incurred which you may be liable to pay.The later you leave it to pay, the higher the charges you may have to pay. This is because we have had to carry out more work to collect the amounts you owe. The charges you could incur are set at different rates dependent on the type of debt, the amount of arrears and the client we are recovering the arrears for.  You may also be charged for each letter we send and each visit we make and if we prompt legal action you will normally incur the legal charges.

10.  Can I repay the client and not your fees?
Any costs incurred by yourself have been added to your arrears and contribute towards the amounts outstanding that you owe.  Fees and charges are usually paid in advance of the arrears due to the client. If you attempt to avoid paying the fees by only paying the initial debt amount you will leave an outstanding balance to the client. Therefore recovery action will continue, further costs may be incurred and we will pursue you until your arrears are cleared in full.

11.  What should I do if I am too embarrassed or frightened to contact Philips?
You should not avoid contact with Philips as the debt will not go away.  If you are too embarrassed or frightened to speak to Philips direct, you can either write to us or establish contact using the ‘My Account’ section on Philips' website: www.philips.org.uk

12.  Should I contact an outside agency (i.e. a debt management company)?
Before speaking to a debt management company Philips suggest anyone experiencing debt problems should seek independent advice from Community Legal Advice. This is a free and confidential advice service paid for by legal aid. Call on 0845 345 4 345 or visit www.communitylegaladvice.org.uk.

13.  Could these arrears affect my credit rating? / What does credit rating mean? / Does this mean I am or will be 'blacklisted'?
Credit Reference Agencies hold information regarding a person’s financial history commonly referred to as credit history.  These records are not sorted or categorised under any ‘blacklist’ as there is no such thing as a ‘blacklist’. Credit Reference Agencies provide your financial information to lenders (i.e. banks, building societies etc.) who use it along with their own guidelines to establish whether to grant you credit.  If you fall into arrears your credit history will show this.

14.  What should I do if I think the amounts Philips are attempting to recover are wrong or not owing?
We are not obliged to suspend action on an account whilst you dispute the debt, unless instructed to do so by our client. We strongly suggest you make payment to Philips to stop recovery action commencing whilst disputing the debt.  If your dispute is upheld our client will arrange recompense with you if applicable.

Collection Services

As the UK's largest independent debt recovery service Philips have been recovering revenue for Local Authorties, Central Government departments and private businesses for ten years

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