Arrears Executive in Durham

Working Pattern: 36.25 hours per week with contractual hours stated as Monday to Saturday between 8am to 7pm (with a 45-minute lunch break). Saturday shifts take place on the last Saturday of each month, from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM, and are worked remotely from home. Working rota to be shared by Line Manager.

Salary: up to £29,000 and up to 20% bonus and benefits

Location: Chester-le-Street (Drum Industrial Estate) hybrid working after probation.

Your team: Collaborators in change

This is a key role in ensuring that the fair treatment of customers is embedded within the Operations team whilst ensuring that fair customer outcomes are consistently delivered. The purpose of the role is to support the Operations Leaders by supporting customers in financial difficulty and arrears whilst achieving departmental service levels. Upholding company standards and complying with all relevant Company and regulatory obligations (including adherence to FCA rules).

Your Impact: Building a sustainable tomorrow

• Proactively service requests from our customers efficiently and professionally ensuring you provide the customer with the information that they require.
• Proactively manage all customer service-related inbound communication (via telephone, correspondence, email, portal) from customers and third parties as part of the servicing and arrears management of a range of mortgage and loan products.
• Ensure regulatory transactional documentation is issued accurately and correctly in accordance with regulatory requirements.
• Identify situations that may require specialist handling (e.g. complaints, vulnerability, fraud) and refer these where appropriate.
• Knowledge and practical application of handling customer complaints, to include identifying complaints, logging and investigating with an aim to putting a resolution in place.
• Knowledge and practical application of dealing with vulnerable customers at first point of contact to ensure their specific needs are understood and they are treated with care and consideration.
• Proactively manage accounts in arrears by completing outbound contact to establish the root cause of the customers' payment difficulties and identify options to assist the customer in rehabilitating their mortgage or loan arrears.
• Negotiate with customers and authorised third parties in financial difficulty regarding how to repay their arrears taking into consideration their individual personal circumstances.
• Knowledge and practical application of completing Income and Expenditure assessments and deciding suitable forbearance options for the customer.
• Knowledge and practical application of late arrears and litigation practices.
• Ensure that all customer contact both written and verbal is conducted within Company standards, FCA regulations, Customer Complaint procedures and that the principles of TCF are upheld consistently with all customers.
• Attain and maintain own competence to Group Training and Competence Framework demonstrated by ongoing adherence.
• Proactively challenge existing processes and take ownership for implementing positive changes which are within own span of control.
• Keep up to date with all Company/regulatory changes particularly those which affect own business area.
• Actively contribute to the achievement of the Company Balance Scorecard objectives and demonstrating Company values in everything you do.
• Adherence to and promotion of a culture of treating our customers fairly to deliver fair outcomes.

We’d love to hear from you if you have:

• Previous experience in financial services (with relevant regulatory appreciation) with demonstrable success in customer service and arrears within a regulated lending environment.
• Demonstrable experience of working accounts in arrears including applying arrears forbearance options and identification of customers that are vulnerable.
• Demonstrable experience of collecting arrears for mortgages and loans with knowledge of how own and team performance affects wider Company objectives.
• Demonstrable knowledge of FCA rules, delivering fair outcomes to customers, CCA and GDPR regulations.
• A working knowledge of customer services and arrears management in a regulated, lending environment.

Rewards that reflect your value, what’s in it for you?

• 25 days annual leave plus 8 days Bank Holiday
• An additional day off for a ‘celebration day’ including, but not limited to, birthdays, weddings, religious holidays, graduations etc
• Buy or sell up to 5 days holiday a year
• Healthcare cash plan through Westfield Health
• Life Assurance at 3 x salary
• Electric Vehicle salary sacrifice scheme
• Cycle to Work salary sacrifice scheme and a free helmet
• Salary sacrifice Pension contribution, 4% employee contributions matched with 4% Tandem contribution
• Smart Tech scheme (buy goods with 0% interest)
• 10% discount on solar panels
• Tandem Hub for treats, cash back and discounts on UK retailers
• 2 days per year paid volunteering
• Free cereal, snacks and drinks in all offices
• Quarterly team social budgets

Please note, some benefits are subject to eligibility criteria, such as passing your probation.

Tandem is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to meeting our responsibilities under the Equality Act (2010). We respect the diverse experience and talents that every individual brings to our Company, and we are determined to ensure that no applicant or employee receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of gender, age, disability, religion, belief, sexual orientation, marital status, or race, or is disadvantaged by conditions or requirements which cannot be shown to be justifiable.

Please be aware that background checking (including credit, criminal records and CIFAS Internal Fraud Database Checks) form part of our recruitment process.