ARA – “Recovery Operations in a COVID-19 Environment”
Dallas, TX – 27 May 2020 – As we make plans to reopen our businesses and start to interact with our client’s customers, it is incumbent upon us to take every precaution necessary to provide a safe workplace for our employees and to ensure the health and well-being of the consumers we deal with.
These major challenges call for extraordinary actions and we are confident that every lender agrees with these two goals. As their representative in the field, it will be your actions that continue to protect their brand. The measures necessary to succeed mean that we will be instituting a new series of policies and procedures in the daily operations of our businesses. While the acquisition expense of the PPE and the additional labor costs involved will depend on the areas in which we operate; it is indisputable that EVERY RESPONSIBLE RECOVERY AGENCY in the U.S. will be faced with these burdensome outlays.
We all understand that guidance from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) to keep everyone safe is ever changing and comes with increased costs to all parties. The exceptional burden of expanded compliance, possible litigation, and increased liabilities, including higher workers comp rates, only adds to the urgency of the attached addendum.
Coronavirus risks are simply not one-dimensional. Uncertainties remain due to unknown exposures that the industry will be required to handle due to COVID-19. Potential exposures increase liability and result in higher costs. Employees may seek a Worker’s Compensation claim due to the exposure they endured. A consumer may claim they contracted COVID-19 as a result of their car being repossessed and their property being mishandled.
With these uncertainties, additional costs and increased liability, it will require a cooperative effort to make sure all parties are protected.
The American Recovery Association is strongly advising all agencies, forwarders and lenders to immediately implement a “Post Recovery Safety Surcharge”; this fee will help protect each person associated with the repossession process during COVID- 19 serving as a bridge to enact and maintain heightened safety processes and as a catalyst to the sustainability of all parties in the aftermath of the pandemic. This can be achieved with an addendum to any contract without causing a major rewrite or delay.
With the addition of this line item, ARA recommends that every recovery agency adopt a new set of post pandemic policies. Some of the topics recommended to be addressed are:
- Wearing of Personal Protection Equipment (gloves, masks, gowns, etc.)
- Social distancing of employees and consumers while in your facilities (including breaks and meal times)
- Following strict CDC guidelines for dealing with the public and their property.
- Following the 72 hour “do not access” policy in regards to opening recovered vehicles.
- Disinfecting equipment, shared vehicles and consumer service areas.
We were very clear in the ARA Summary White Paper that there has to be a concerted effort from all of the stakeholders in our industry to engage in the conversation as to how we build a viable and sustainable business model that guarantees a network of quality recovery professionals.
We will begin the outreach immediately to have these discussions at the earliest date possible.
We recommend that everyone shares an addendum to account for this Post Recovery Safety Surcharge. Click below to download the addendum and modify as needed.
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