Credit Management July and August 2020

EDITOR’S COLUMN
I’m talking but you’re
not listening
Sean Feast FCICM
Managing Editor
BE careful what you wish
for. I used to detest that
phrase and now I detest
it even more.
When we had Brexit,
I stopped watching the
news and prayed the media would talk
about something else. I did the same with
coronavirus. Not long into lockdown
I simply switched it off. I prefer my
politicians to be out there doing their
jobs, rather than having to justify every
time they break wind to an intensely
irritating BBC. Only recently did I
venture back to be confronted with the
latest in the desperately depressing saga
in the hunt for young Maddie McCann,
and the sight of riots all over the world
on the undeniably simple premise that
Black Lives Matter. Whatever happened
to good news, I hear myself asking on an
almost daily basis?
Because there is good news out there.
I learned recently that while sales of real
plants and flowers may have fallen off
a cliff with the initial closure of garden
centres, sales of plastic plants have gone
through the roof. One firm, Blooming
Artificial (great name!), reported likefor-like
sales having increased by around
150 percent – great news for all those
with not-so green fingers.
I also recently learned in the CICM
Think Tank that collections volumes
may in fact be rising, and requests for
payment plans have ‘skyrocketed’ (see
news page 9) as consumers look to
get their debt in order – an action that
seems to fly in the face of other stories of
impending doom.
What is interesting, in this context,
is the ongoing debate about how debt
advice will be funded in the future.
The government recently announced
a dedicated £38m (through the Money
and Pensions Service) windfall to fund
advice through the current crisis, but I
am guessing it is expecting the financial
community – including collections
agencies and purchasers – to cough
up part of that. Consultations have
come and gone (including the snappily
titled CP20/6: FCA regulated fees and
levies: Rates Proposals 2020/2021) but I
sometimes wonder if the Regulator or
the government are actually listening. I
know that the CSA has asked the advice
sector to evidence where and how its
current contributions are being spent,
before it contributes any more, but I’m
not aware, as yet, if it’s got any answers.
So is it really appropriate to increase
fees in the current climate? I’m no
expert, but it seems somehow perverse
for the FCA to want an increase in fees
just at the very time that debt buyers
and agencies are facing huge costs
of their own. Not only have they had
to absorb payment holidays, but also
the additional costs of compliance
and working remotely. Debt collectors
might not be many people’s friends, but
whether politicians or my colleagues
in the media like it or not, they are an
essential part of our economy and the
industry deserves the same protection/
support from the government as any
other business sector.
I’ve also heard whispers of a
proposed change to how the Financial
Ombudsman Service (FOS) is funded
going forward, and a disturbing rumour
that the costs will be spread across the
whole industry, rather than being met by
those who actually pollute the system.
Added to the ongoing fee saga, it does
make me wonder who is wagging the
doggie’s tail.
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / July & August 2020 / PAGE 4