Recovery Officer

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an enthusiastic and dedicated individual to join our busy Revenues and Benefits Team as a Recovery Officer at Gloucester City Council. The successful candidate will be a committed team player who can work on their own initiative to complete tasks and achieve targets.,

• Deciding and implementing the most effective option to recover outstanding debts including referral to the enforcement agent, attachment to earnings, deduction from benefit, issue of pre-committal and pre-bankruptcy letters or County Court action.
• Supporting customers that are vulnerable, encouraging the take-up of available benefits and discounts, negotiating debt repayment plans and applying discretion where necessary.
• Monitor customer accounts to ensure payments are being received and take action to progress recovery as appropriate.
• Assist with the preparation of cases for court.
• Deliver excellent customer service when dealing with customers and stakeholders providing explanations and clarification of decisions and actions taken relating to legislation, policy, and procedures. Signpost residents to additional/alternative support where it is outside the remit of the Revenues and Benefits service area.
• Issue of housing benefit overpayment invoices, monitoring arrangements with debtors and taking appropriate action to recover unpaid debts.
• To answer and deal with telephone enquiries from customers
General Duties
• Ensure confidentiality and comply with GDPR
• To always provide excellent customer service
• To work flexibly to support your colleagues
• To embrace the standards under the Council's Employee Behaviours Framework
  
  Be committed to providing excellent customer service
• Be computer literate with a working knowledge of Microsoft packages
• Have experience of coping well under pressure and dealing with difficult situations
• Have experience of local authority revenues administration
• Have experience of debt collection
Gloucester City Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people or vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We're fully committed to equality, diversity and inclusion for our employees as they're at the heart of delivering our aims. We welcome applications from all sectors of our community. As an employer we strive to be more representative of our communities in our workforce and celebrate diversity. It is a legal requirement, under the Immigration Act 2016, that anyone appointed to a 'customer facing role' must be able to demonstrate an ability to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence in fluent English,
• Be able to communicate confidently with customers, using tact and discretion where required.
• Be IT literate; familiar with Microsoft Office packages including Word, Excel & Outlook
• Organised and methodical with good attention to detail
• Possess good written skills
• Team working
• Be punctual
• Experience of working in council tax and/or business rates, A minimum of 5 GCSEs grade 4/C and above including English and Maths, or equivalent., It is a legal requirement, under the Immigration Act 2016, that anyone appointed to a 'customer facing role' must be able to demonstrate an ability to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence in fluent English.
  
  Our main office, based in the Eastgate Centre on Eastgate Street in the heart of the city, is an accessible, modern and light space designed for collaborative working and finding new ways to work. It's all open plan, with a living green wall and other plants without set desks, so you can sit next to someone new every day. We're always looking to improve how we work and we offer flexible and agile working to give our people a great work life balance.