Rent day plus five
Rent was due on the first. On the sixth, someone runs the arrears report, sees a dozen names and starts ringing. Some tenants paid late and the payment has not been allocated. Some forgot. One has lost their job. The property manager for that block is on holiday, so her tenants do not get chased until she is back. By the time the landlord hears, the arrears are two weeks old and the landlord wants to know why nobody told them.
Why arrears chasing is inconsistent
Arrears management relies on two things happening every day: spotting missed payments accurately, and acting on them in a consistent sequence. Both are manual in many offices. The report is only as good as the allocation of incoming payments, so it includes false alarms. And the sequence of reminder, call, letter and landlord notification exists as a policy document that each person follows in their own way.
Tenants in genuine difficulty need a different conversation from tenants who forgot. A one-size process handles neither well.
| Stage | Common gap |
|---|---|
| Payment missed | Not spotted until someone runs a report |
| First reminder | Sent late, or not at all when staff are away |
| Follow-up call | Depends on the property manager's workload |
| Landlord informed | Late, or inconsistently |
| Rent guarantee or insurer notified | Deadlines missed |
What late chasing costs
Arrears are easier to resolve early. A tenant who is a few days late can often pay with a reminder; a tenant two months behind is a far harder situation for everyone. Late landlord updates damage trust, and for landlords with rent guarantee cover, late notification can cause problems with a claim. Staff time goes on ringing people who have already paid.
How you handle arrears, and what you say, is a matter for your own policy and advisers. The problem this article addresses is doing it reliably.
The arrears process we build
- Daily check: each morning, expected rent is compared with payments received in your client account or lettings software, with payments matched to tenancies first so false alarms are removed.
- Staged reminders: tenants who have missed a payment get a friendly reminder in your approved wording, then further messages at the stages your policy sets, with a link to pay or to ask for help.
- Hardship route: tenants who reply that they are struggling are taken out of the automated sequence and put straight in front of a person.
- Landlord updates: landlords are told at the point your process says, in consistent wording, and can see the status of their tenancy.
- Case queue: property managers see arrears cases with the history of every message, payment and call, and cases are reassigned when someone is away.
- Deadline flags: where a landlord has rent guarantee cover, the insurer's notification deadlines are tracked and flagged.
No legal notice is generated or served by the system. Anything beyond reminders is decided and done by your team.
What it feels like afterwards
Missed payments are spotted the morning they are missed, and the first reminder goes out whether or not the property manager is in. Tenants in difficulty are identified early and spoken to by a person. Landlords hear from you at the right time and in the same way every time. Property managers spend their time on the cases that need judgement.
Is arrears chasing hit and miss?
- Arrears are spotted by running a report, not automatically.
- The arrears list includes tenants who have paid but not been allocated.
- Chasing stops when a property manager is away.
- Landlords sometimes hear about arrears late.
- Rent guarantee notification deadlines are tracked by memory.