UK banks are hiring teams of up to 250 collections advisers at a time to deal with the surge in defaults on CBILS and BBLS loans.
A substantial number of businesses are expected to default on their CBILS and BBLS loans due to the financial impact of the three national lockdowns over the last ten months.
The National Audit Office estimates up to £26bn could be potentially lost through defaults and fraud on the BBLS scheme alone. More than £68bn in lending had been written through both schemes as of December 2020.
Banks are also bringing in additional teams to help with the expected upsurge in work on consumer defaults in the coming weeks. Additionally, banks are exploring hiring extra staff to work on investigations into CBILS and BBLS fraud.
Contractors with previous experience of dealing with businesses and consumers that have defaulted on loan repayments are now being highly sought after.
Banks can save time and resources by drawing on pools of already vetted contactors. By hiring staff that already have their qualifications and suitability verified, banks can ensure that all FCA and PRA compliance requirements are met.
Hiring experienced contractors also allows banks to relieve the pressure on existing staff that have been deployed from other departments, such as HR and procurement, to work on the CBILS and BBLS schemes.
Andrew McIntee is a board director and leads the financial & professional services practice at NSCG. If you need support to find and deploy high-calibre talent solutions, please get in touch