What is the Receivable Protection Program?

The Receivable Protection Program (RPP) guards your company from those IAM members in financial difficulty through the following features:

RPP Compensation

An IAM Governing or Core Member can submit claims to IAM for compensation on any unpaid invoice stemming from a household goods shipment owed to it by another IAM Governing or Core Member. This is the last resort mechanism by which your company can recover money lost due to another member declaring bankruptcy or ceasing to exist. The unpaid invoice must be no older than 120 days from the date of its issuance when it is submitted to IAM. If you have financial concerns about a partner, IAM recommends that you submit an RPP claim after the invoice has aged 90 days. Since 2015 when the RPP became an IAM member benefit, the RPP has paid out $984,096.42 USD to compensate members for unpaid invoices since the start of the RPP. To learn more about the value the RPP delivers, check out our RPP effectiveness analysis.

RPP Intervention

Any IAM Member Company can request IAM intervention on any combined debt owed by another IAM Member Company that is greater than $3,000.00 USD and at least 120 days old through RPP Intervention. This is the intermediate step by which IAM Staff intervenes with the allegedly delinquent member and tries to facilitate repayment of the outstanding debt(s). If you wish to submit a claim but do not want IAM to contact the debtor, please email rpp@iamovers.org to notify the RPP team. IAM treats all claims as confidential unless explicitly directed to intervene with the delinquent company. Since inception in May of 2011, IAM has facilitated resolution on invoices amounting to more than $1.8 million USD.

Alleged Debtor List

All IAM Members will receive the IAM Alleged Debtor List each month, which details the IAM members who are allegedly delinquent on payments owed to other IAM members. This tool provides members with advance business information regarding which members may not be paying their invoices. Filed claims for less $3000.00 USD are not eligible for posting on the Alleged Debtor List because they did not go through the formal RPP intervention process.

My company is owed money by a fellow Member who is an important client of ours. Can we file the claim confidentially?

YES! IAM treats all claims confidentially and will not initiate the RPP Intervention process with the delinquent company unless your company explicitly authorizes us to do so. The last thing IAM Staff wants to do is jeopardize your company’s business relationship.

What if I submit a claim that is less than $3000.00 USD?

Any total claimed amount less than $3,000.00 USD is not eligible for formal RPP intervention. However, IAM will send an informal communication via email to the debtor notifying the debtor company of the debt and requesting that they resolve the complaint directly with the claimant. Because the debt would not go through the formal RPP intervention process, these claims are not eligible for posting on the Alleged Debtor List. This $3,000.00 USD minimum applies to RPP intervention only. There is no minimum amount threshold for claims eligible for RPP compensation.

What is the number one tip IAM gives to companies about the RPP?

From time to time, IAM denies claimed invoices because Members have not submitted them in time. Remember that IAM must have knowledge of the claimed invoice no more than 120 days past its issuance date. As such, the RPP team recommends that member companies can send a monthly statement to rpp@iamovers.org of the past due amounts owed to them by other IAM Members. This statement should at a minimum include the following:

• Delinquent company name
• Invoice number
• Invoice date
• Invoice amount

These statements will be held confidentially and will only be used in the event that one of the delinquent companies has gone out of business.

Under RPP Compensation, if my claim is approved, will IAM pay me the entire amount of the invoice that was not paid?

Yes, but this determination depends on a variety of factors. To protect the solvency of the RPP Reserve Fund, IAM maintains limitations governing the total amount paid out per year, the total amount paid out to compensate claimants of one particular company, and the total amount paid out to compensate a specific claimant. More information on these limitations can be found in the RPP Operating Rules and Regulations in Section II, Part A.

Other trade associations like LACMA and FIDI operate similar programs to the RPP. If my claim is valid in all three programs, can I still recover money from the RPP?

IAM’s policy on this subject is to work with FIDI and LACMA on overlapping claims. The three organizations have worked out a process through which we can share these types of claims to ensure that we are maximizing the amount we can compensate under the rules of the program while sharing the costs from our mutual members.

My claim was not denied. Why am I not receiving a payout this year?

Even if your claim was not denied, IAM only pays out RPP Compensation when it has determined that the debtor company has filed for bankruptcy or ceased to exist. If the debtor company you claimed against is still operating by the end of the fiscal year, the claim will be rolled over to the next fiscal year and will be evaluated as a part of the following fiscal year’s claim review. 

Why does IAM ask for additional documentation for eligible RPP compensation claims?

The RPP Operating Rules explicitly list the required documentation that a claimant must submit for a potentially eligible claim. These documents are used to verify that a service was actually completed and that the charges billed match the original accepted quote. All RPP claims are independently verified for eligibility and this back-up documentation is required for that confirmation as well. 

I have provided evidence that a company I submitted a claim against is out of business. Why haven’t I received my check yet?

Claim settlements are based on a maximum annual payables amount determined by the number of IAM Governing and Core Member companies participating (i.e. paying into the RPP) at the end of each fiscal year. All claims are reviewed at the end of each fiscal year and no payments will be disbursed until after the start of the next fiscal year. For example, a claim submitted in 2021 would be reviewed in the 4^th quarter of 2021 and paid out in the 1st quarter of 2022.

I heard that the RPP only covers invoices that stem from commercial household goods shipments (i.e. non-U.S. Military / Government Shipments). Is this true?

This used to be true. However, now that IAM has extended the program to all Governing and Core Members, the Association can now afford to cover invoices that stem from household goods shipments for the U.S. Department of Defense, Department of State, and General Services Administration. 

The RPP now covers invoices from U.S. Military and Government shipments? Is that right?

Yes, by expanding the RPP, IAM can now spread risk among approximately 2,000 companies rather 100 to 200 companies. In the past, failing to cover these invoices was a chief complaint of the RPP, so IAM wanted to incorporate this feature to make the program even more valuable to members.

Are there any other benefits for my company through the RPP?

Yes. RPP Intervention is the procedure by which IAM formally intervenes on undisputed outstanding invoice amounts greater than $3,000.00 USD owed between members. Since implementing this process in 2011, IAM has successfully resolved close to two million in unpaid invoices between IAM Members.

How does the RPP Intervention work?

Under this process, IAM formally intervenes with the delinquent member (Alleged Debtor) if the debt exceeds $3,000 USD and is more than 120 days old. At the claimants’ request, IAM will send a series of intervention letters to the alleged debtor regarding the unpaid invoices. If, after three interventions, the debt remains outstanding, IAM will add the delinquent company to the IAM Alleged Debtor List. The IAM Alleged Debtor List is circulated to all IAM Governing and Core Members each month .

So my company will be able to obtain compensation for unpaid invoices, request IAM intervention on outstanding invoices, and receive advance information about which IAM Members are allegedly not paying their invoices?

Yes, your company will receive all three benefits as part of its IAM Governing and Core Membership dues.

How Effective is RPP Intervention?

In 2020, IAM helped to resolve more than 50% of requests that are reported to the RPP. The key element of RPP Intervention is the potential for the delinquent company to be published to the IAM membership on the Alleged Debtor List. While IAM cannot compel member companies to repay a debt, highlighting a company as an Alleged Debtor to our worldwide network provides a powerful incentive to pay the outstanding invoice(s). In 2020. IAM was successful in resolving more than $400,000 USD worth of unpaid invoices.

This Alleged Debtor List – How does a company get designated as an Alleged Debtor?

As part of RPP Intervention, IAM Staff conducts a step-by-step procedure by which a company will be identified as an Alleged Debtor if no effort is made to resolve the outstanding debt. Ample time is provided to the alleged debtor to pay off the outstanding invoice or propose an acceptable payment plan before being placed on that list. Additionally, IAM staff will work with the debtor company to follow up on debts that they may be waiting for from other IAM members.

How effective is IAM’s Receivable Protection Program?

As of July 2021, the RPP has delivered $2,628,152.59 USD in value back to IAM member companies. Learn more about the value the RPP delivers for IAM Members.