How it works
A ladder you control, not a machine that escalates
Most accounts resolve at the bottom of the ladder, where you keep everything that comes in. The stages above exist because some accounts need them — not because every account travels there.
The principle
Escalation is a decision, and it is yours.
Plenty of agencies start where it hurts, because pressure recovers money faster. That trade is fine when the customer relationship is already over — and expensive when it is not. Action Recovery runs the ladder the other way: in at the bottom, up only when a stage ends unresolved, and never into court without your written authorization on that account.
The practical effect is that most engagements are quieter than clients expect. Letters go out, balances come in, and the customer stays a customer.
The four stages
How far anything would ever go.
Three letters on agency letterhead, one flat fee per account. Anything unresolved rolls forward only with notice to you.
Best fit: Current and recently past-due accounts
You keep 100% of what comes in
Flat fee per account, volume-tiered
Pending compliance reviewActive collection on accounts the letters didn’t resolve. Paid only out of what’s recovered — nothing billed at signing.
Best fit: Accounts that finished the letter series unpaid
You keep 70% of what’s recovered
30% contingency
Pending compliance reviewDirect placement for accounts past the letter stage — including the ones others gave up on. Paid only out of recoveries.
Best fit: Aged or cold accounts placed directly
You keep 70% (under 1 year) or 50% (over 1 year)
30% under 1 year · 50% over 1 year · balances under $75 at 50%
Pending compliance reviewThe most difficult accounts, forwarded to collection-specialist attorneys through the American Lawyers Quarterly Network. Suit only with your written authorization. You advance court, filing, and process costs.
Best fit: Suit-worthy accounts, with your written authorization
You net 50% — attorney fees come out of our half
50% contingency, attorney fees inside
Pending compliance review
The one automatic step
What happens when the letters run out.
There is exactly one place where accounts move without you asking: at the end of the Pre-Collect letter series. Accounts still unresolved transfer into Full Recovery so the momentum built by three letters is not thrown away.
You are notified of the specific accounts before anything transfers. Nothing moves silently, and an account you want held is held.
Getting started
From first conversation to first letter.
Qualify
You describe the receivables — how many accounts, how old, typical balances, and what has already been tried. Nothing is recommended before this.
Recommendation
You are pointed to the stage that fits the accounts you actually have, including “keep these in-house a while longer” when that is the honest answer.
Agreement
A written agreement defines the service, the fee basis, and when work begins. Nothing is ambiguous and nothing is verbal.
We sign first
Action Recovery countersigns the agreement before it reaches you. You are never asked to commit to something the agency has not already committed to.
You sign
The agreement comes to you fully executed on our side. Your signature is the last one, not the first.
Payment — letters only
Pre-Collect is prepaid at signup, because it is a flat-fee service. Every contingency stage bills nothing at signing; the fee comes out of what is recovered.
Recovery begins
Letters go out, or accounts place directly into active recovery — and nothing escalates past that stage without notice to you.
Questions creditors ask
Asked before you had to ask.
Will using a collection agency damage our customer relationships?
That fear is why the ladder starts with letters. Pre-Collect is a series of three professional letters on agency letterhead — no calls, no pressure tactics — and most engagements start and stay there. Escalation past the letters happens only after the series ends, with notice to you, and litigation is never pursued without your written authorization on the specific account.
Do we pay anything up front?
Only Pre-Collect, the letter service, is prepaid — a flat per-account fee. Every contingency stage is paid out of what’s actually recovered: if nothing is recovered, nothing is owed.
What happens to accounts the letters don’t resolve?
At the end of the three-letter series you get a notification listing the specific accounts that remain unresolved, and those accounts move into Full Recovery — active contingency collection. You know exactly which accounts are transferring before anything happens.
Our accounts are old. Is it too late?
No — aged accounts skip the letter stage entirely and place directly into Straight Contingency, which is built for accounts others have given up on. Because it’s contingency, trying costs nothing unless money is recovered.
How do we know which service fits our accounts?
Describe your receivables — how old the accounts are, typical balances, how many, and what’s been tried — and you’ll get a recommendation for the stage that fits, not a pitch. That’s the assessment, and it carries no obligation.
Talk to the advisor
Where do your accounts sit on the ladder?
Every engagement starts the same way: describe your receivables — how old, how large, how many, what’s been tried — and get an honest read on how far up the ladder they’d ever need to travel. Often the answer is “not far.”