Investment in the utility sector is more than just a financial metric. As a major tenant of modern infrastructure and urban living, utility sectors must maintain a robust cash flow to ensure that money flows back into innovation and the advancement of sustainable energy solutions.
As a people-centric industry, any hindrances in the utility sector affect communities. When revenue gets tied up in delinquent accounts and aging receivables, it impacts your bottom line and your ability to serve those communities effectively.
As a specialized partner in utility debt recovery, Cedar Financial prioritizes enduring customer relationships while developing recovery strategies that sustain revenue growth for utility providers. Our approach is designed to handle the unique challenges of utility collections that require assertive recovery strategies coupled with compassionate interactions with your community to sustain your success and growth.
We speak the language of the past-due customer, but no two customers are the same in their financial circumstances, so why should our approach be? We tailor our outreach to connect with your customers with empathy to keep doors for negotiation open. Our aim is to connect with unresponsive customers and give them ample space to take control of their recovery journey on their terms while ensuring timely payments and adherence.
Striking the right chord with customers requires developing an amicable approach that allows them to communicate in the manner best suited to them. Utility debt collection is familiar to consumers who shy away from talking to collectors and taking phone calls. Our omnichannel communication approach utilizes texts, phone calls, emails, voicemails, and personal visits to ensure consumers can choose the mode of communication that allows them to collaborate with our agents most effectively.
The ease of paying and the agency’s ability to decide your own payment journey get most consumers through the door and past the dreaded line where they fear they won’t be able to manage past-due recoveries. No one wants to get behind on their electricity, water or phone and internet bills, so we understand flexible payments can change the game for many consumers. Our consumer portal offers extensive options and tailored solutions to set up a payment plan aligned with every consumer’s financial or medical situation to allow them to pay their past dues with dignity.
Utilities remain an integral part of all societies, representing critical infrastructure that we all depend on, especially in places where managing energy and utility can be challenging. Retaining suppliers and collaborating with government bodies and authorities is an ongoing project for utility companies. Our experts are trained in cross-border utility debt collection techniques to foster hard-earned relationships and maintain cultural sensitivity with diverse consumer bases.
One of the most critical aspects of successful utility debt collection is keeping a sharp eye on the recovery process metrics. We ensure you have a bird’s eye view of your accounts and the steps to retrieve unpaid utility bills with the utmost compliance and dedication so you can focus on business growth rather than worrying about the technicalities of collection. We provide regular updates to maintain transparency and aid your decision-making process.
We keep our eye on the prize. Our efforts are geared towards the goal you want to achieve with your utility debt collection. As your debt recovery partner, we can customize debt collection plans catering to your needs. Your customers count on you to make their lives easier, and we do that for you by devising utility debt collection strategies that speak to your brand image.
Have you ever experienced a toothache? Has there been a time when you ignored a minor ache until it became unbearable? By the time you make it to the dentist, the cost of recovery, physically and metaphorically, is more prolonged and tedious – not to mention expensive!
Cedar Financial has developed an Early Intervention Collection program that allows you to avoid piling invoices and engage consumers as soon as they default on their first bill. Our experience shows that utility customers who receive early, professional contact are more likely to establish sustainable payment arrangements and maintain future service payments.
Prompt action on aging claims past day 1, up to 30 days, is the ideal time to recover as high as 80% of your outstanding dues on utility bills. We have seen a significant increase in our clients’ bottom line when they diligently identify and work to recover past dues as soon as they default. Acting early saves money that goes a long way towards creating impactful change for your community as the utility provider, and we make it happen for you.
Our representatives comprehend the distinctive dynamics of utility collections, from seasonal payment fluctuations to assistance program eligibility. They communicate with customers as extensions of your team, ensuring consistent messaging and safeguarding the trust you’ve cultivated in your service territory.
We integrate directly with your existing systems and operations, providing a transparent collection process that aligns with your established customer service benchmarks. This approach is particularly valuable during peak periods, such as extreme weather events or seasonal payment surges, where additional support can help prevent accounts from reaching a critical state.
The first-party model also enables more adaptable payment arrangements, as customers are more responsive to early intervention from their trusted utility provider. This leads to enhanced recovery rates and, more importantly, assists customers in maintaining essential services while preserving your revenue stream.
Transparency differentiates between a debt recovery process that fuels growth and one that sours customer relationships forever. In utility debt collection, we ensure robust processes that develop clear communication between you and your customers.
Accurate debt validation is paramount for utility providers due to complex billing cycles, usage disputes, and regulatory requirements. Our comprehensive and transparent client portal allows you to arrange and manage all your accounts receivable and collection processes in one place. With all the information consolidated on one easy-to-access pilot online portal, you can maintain an extensive record of all your claims and create strategies around effective debt recovery.
Extending the same ease to your customers, we also have a consumer portal that gives them a clear idea of what they owe and how they can manage their outstanding dues. They can request documents, verify claims, and validate the debt without delays or complications. Effective utility debt collection becomes possible when accurate measures are taken to provide transparency to all parties involved.
Our technology platform is configured explicitly for utility sector needs. We’ve developed sophisticated systems that integrate seamlessly with significant utility billing platforms. Our real-time payment plan monitoring and regulatory compliance tracking ensure consistent adherence to requirements, all while maintaining multi-channel communication options aligned with utility commission standards.
Our clients in the utility sector must deal with real people with very real financial stresses. We ensure that we can provide them with all the information that can enable them to make informed decisions about their collection process. Our agents leverage credit histories from publicly available records to determine whether a customer is likely to default on their payment or have a lower propensity to pay based on their payment patterns. This allows us to create tailored strategies for customer engagement that ensure a greater chance of recovery with customers that are likely to default.
Unfortunately, some customers will fly under the radar or not engage until they seriously default on their outstanding dues. In the rare case that you have a consumer who fails to meet their payment deadlines, you must resort to more assertive measures to engage them.
As your recovery partner in utility debt collection, we put our utmost efforts into preventing serious defaults. However, when the need arises, we can leverage our extensive network of attorneys, licensed across all 50 states, to manage litigation and judgment against completely unresponsive customers and recover stubborn accounts.
Managing utility debt collections for unregulated utility companies can become complicated, especially for companies that need the internal resources to manage litigation, long-term entanglement, and court proceedings. Our experienced attorneys and trained debt collection agents collaborate on your utility bill debt recovery process by navigating state and federal laws to implement recovery strategies for de-regulated utilities and their consumers.
Explore our Extensive Legal Network of Debt Recovery Attorneys
We strictly adhere to state Utility Commission regulations and assistance program requirements, including comprehensive coverage of winter moratorium rules and medical certification procedures. Our compliance team stays current with changing utility regulations across all jurisdictions, ensuring our recovery efforts align with federal and state requirements, including specific service restoration requirements and rate case stipulations.
Cedar Financial has poured years of debt collection experience into developing a comprehensive and elaborate network of international debt collection partners and resources that allow them to tackle debt recovery for utilities, wherever they may be. Our debt collection talent is well-versed in managing debt collection challenges across multiple utility commission jurisdictions, serving both rural and urban service territories.
Our debt collection talent is well-versed in developing collection strategies for clients overseas and around the world by engaging diverse customer bases and maintaining cultural nuances in the face of challenges that arise in utility debt collection, regardless of geographical location.
We offer on-the-ground representatives in your customer’s location who understand the practices that work to support full recovery of your funds.
When we speak to your customers, we do it with the utmost respect. Our scripts are monitored on each and every call, ensuring that your customers are treated well.
Cedar believes in giving your customers options. We communicate with them the way they prefer, whether that is via phone, email, text, chat bot, letter, etc.
Paying bills shouldn’t be a hassle. We offer multiple ways for them to pay, including an easy-to-use online portal.
Regardless of where your customers are, Cedar Financial will find and collect. We have agents all over the globe ready to work for you.
Cedar Financial takes great care in customizing a collection plan that works best for your needs. No company is the same, why should collection be?
We give you 24/7 access to your accounts, so you can see exactly what progress is being made in real time.
