Verizon Petitions to Pass Collection Costs on to Customers

by Mike Bevel, CollectionIndustry.com

At issue for Verizon: who is responsible, ultimately, for the cost of doing business? In New Jersey at least, Verizon believes that delinquent customers should front the cost of their delinquency. Delinquent customers, and the consumer advocates who love them? Not so much.

On August 30, Verizon asked state regulators for permission to charge collection fees, on top of the past due bill, to delinquent customers. “If a bill is not paid and it has to go to collection, we believe it is within our rights to seek reimbursement for those fees,” Verizon spokesman Rich Young told the North Jersey Media Group.

?Hold up, though, Hoss,? charge Public Advocate Ronald Chen and Rate Counsel Seema Singh. (We?re paraphrasing.) Chen and Seema allege that the phone company?s request is unreasonable, and that Verizon is asking for permission to ?double dip.? Chen and Seema further assert that the company already factors collection charges into their bills.

Verizon says that charges of double-dipping are both wrong and baseless. Young goes further, saying that the fees Verizon are asking for are standard practice.

Verizon sends delinquent accounts ? bills that are more than 90 days overdue — to collection agencies, which usually charge anywhere between 10 and 20 percent of an overdue bill. In 2005, Verizon spent $3 million to collect on 280,000 delinquent accounts in New Jersey alone.