Dukes Bailiffs Limited invest in data intelligence and reporting technology to improve customer service
Dukes Bailiffs Limited is a privately-owned, family run enforcement agency that have been operating for 25 years. With Local Authorities accounting for approximately 75% of their customer base, their expertise lies in the collection and recovery of Council Tax, Business Rates and Parking Charge Notices.
Dukes differentiate themselves through their strong ethics and commitment to transparency; providing clients with bespoke performance reports. Historically, a monthly pdf snapshot report was delivered to clients to provide a high-level view of their activity. However, with a focus on delivering outstanding service, Dukes wanted to improve how clients accessed their data and the level of detail that was provided. From this, the idea for Certus was born. Using VISION reporting and analytics technology, powered by Destin Solutions, Dukes was able to deliver a dedicated reporting suite, Certus.
The purpose of Certus is to provide Local Authority clients with real-time access to their own data. Clients are given their own secure login details, and by using a self-service portal, they can access up-to-date reports and view how their cases are progressing and collection performance.
Rebecca Gaffney, Contract Development Manager at Dukes, comments “Certus enables our clients to access their data at any time, through the click of a button. Our high-level statistical reports are accompanied with visual graphs and pie charts, to make it easier to interpret data. A key feature with Certus is that it also enables our clients to drill down into the detail, which simply wasn’t possible in our static monthly pdf reports.”
The solution provided by Destin Solutions has enabled Dukes to create their own bespoke reports for internal and external use, helping to provide more intelligent collection strategies and identify areas where more resource may be required to improve recovery performance. This is a smarter, agile approach to managing their workforce, directing their efforts where they are needed most.
Rebecca goes on to comment “Certus is very user friendly and can provide a focus for client review meetings. It’s been live now for over a year, and it is currently used by 80% of our clients. We regularly use client feedback to work with Destin Solutions to refine the reports, to ensure our clients are getting the most out of this unique system, and to ensure it stays efficient for their day to day reporting requirements.”
Typical reports provided to Local Authority clients are ‘status snapshot reports’, meaning that at any time they can see the volume of live accounts and what progress has been made for each individual case. The vulnerability indicator within the system also ensures Dukes can demonstrate their commitment to ethical collecting practices and the reporting of vulnerability, ensuring that suitable arrangements have been put in place, where appropriate.
Following the successful implementation of Certus, Dukes are now investing in the Commercial Insight product and Financial Insight product provided by Destin Solutions. Commercial Insight provides detailed data relating to the health, wealth and trading status of the businesses that Dukes collect Business Rates from, on behalf of their Local Authority clients. Used by Dukes’ Enforcement Agent team, Commercial Insight helps to identify and monitor changes in company statuses, ensuring a proactive response, to aid a better chance of recovery.
An alert system within the solution can flag when a company that has previously been rated ‘good’, may suddenly change to ‘critical’, signalling a need to act on that case sooner. It also has the capability to list all companies that a Director or individual may be associated with, so if the Enforcement team are struggling to locate an individual, they have more options to pursue, increasing the chances of successful recovery.
The Financial Insight product can provide Dukes with detailed credit and financial data for Council Tax customers on behalf of Authorities. This enables detailed analysis on an individual’s propensity to pay and will help with recovery strategies based on up to date and accurate financial data.
