Every day, Dunea supplies more than 1.4 million people in the western part of South Holland with clean and reliable drinking water. In addition, the company manages a vast dune area where water extraction and nature conservation go hand in hand.
As a public organization with a significant social responsibility, customer focus, continuity, and accessibility are central to its mission. But as with any organization dealing with hundreds of thousands of customers, this also presents administrative and financial challenges.
To respond to societal demands, maintain control over outstanding receivables, and at the same time keep an eye on vulnerable customers, Dunea decided to redesign its debt collection process. Following a competitive bidding process, Faircasso emerged as the best partner thanks to their shared vision of socially responsible debt collection. Both organizations have now been working together for quite some time, with visible results.
Dunea faced rising payment arrears from customers who could no longer pay their water bills. Water bills are often paid last because rent, mortgages, and energy bills take priority, which can cause debts to mount quickly.
Furthermore, Dunea neither wants nor can simply cut off customers for nonpayment. That’s why it established a leniency policy for delinquent customers, and at the same time recognized the need to redesign the entire debt collection process.
As a result, they established a leniency policy, and the need arose to redesign the entire collection process—and, above all, to make it more socially responsible: less focus on pressure and accumulating costs, more focus on support and accessibility.
Previously, the debt collection process consisted of a brief step-by-step plan:“ ” two reminders, followed by in-person collection and disconnection. This offered little room for customization or for identifying requests for assistance.
Now, Dunea uses a comprehensive HAS process (Reminder, Demand, Summons), followed by a socially oriented amicable phase at Faircasso. This gives customers more time and more opportunities to find a solution.
“The entire team was driven to improve the process. ‘We wanted to be more customer-friendly, reduce costs, and truly help customers.’”
—Martine Kruijs-den Adel, customer specialist at Dunea—
Faircasso supports Dunea with a segmented and targeted debt collection approach immediately after the transfer of cases. Receivables are analyzed based on factors such as the outstanding amount, payment history, and personal circumstances. Based on this, Faircasso determines the most appropriate approach for each customer, ranging from independent payment agreements to more intensive support in cases of increased risk.
This approach results in a high recovery rate for transferred receivables and thus directly contributes to improved cash flow for Dunea. Because Faircasso takes over all customer contact during this phase, Dunea is relieved of the operational burden, and the need for in-person visits by its own staff is significantly reduced. This reduces the workload for both office and field staff and creates capacity for complex cases, process improvement, and targeted customer support.
As part of the amicable collection process, Faircasso actively conducts home visits with vulnerable customers. Through this personal contact, more than half of this target group is ultimately reached. Payment issues are addressed early on, appropriate solutions are implemented, and further escalation is prevented.
With this approach, Faircasso offers Dunea greater control over payment behavior and risks, while simultaneously adopting a people-centered approach that combines efficiency with social responsibility.
“The home visit during the intermediate phase really adds value for us. It saves us a lot of visits later in the process and helps customers more quickly.”
- Kevin Hofman, Customer Specialist, Process & Quality -
The collaboration between Dunea and Faircasso yields concrete improvements: