Credit Control · Troubleshooting
Credit Control: troubleshooting
Fixes for common Credit Control problems and error messages. For how Credit Control works, see Credit Control; for step-by-step instructions, see Credit Control: how-to.
I can’t see Credit Control in the menu
Section titled “I can’t see Credit Control in the menu”Why it happens: your role doesn’t include Credit Control, for example the No credit control role.
How to fix it: ask an admin in your organisation to give your role view permission for Credit Control (or edit permission, to send chasers). Admins change roles in Users.
I can see the arrears but can’t send anything
Section titled “I can see the arrears but can’t send anything”Why it happens: you have view but not edit permission for Credit Control. The Restricted credit control role is view only, so the send buttons, Multi-select and New credit control template don’t appear.
How to fix it: ask an admin to give your role edit permission for Credit Control. If you shouldn’t be able to record payments, they can give you a custom role with edit permission for Credit Control and view permission for Rent Collection.
Credit Control isn’t sending reminders automatically
Section titled “Credit Control isn’t sending reminders automatically”Why it happens: Credit Control doesn’t send anything on a schedule. It proposes the next step, and someone on your team sends it. Rent Collection doesn’t send automatic reminders either.
How to fix it: check the list regularly and send the proposed steps, using Execute proposed step for N tenancies to do many at once. See Chase several tenancies at once.
A tenant in arrears isn’t on the list
Section titled “A tenant in arrears isn’t on the list”Why it happens:
- The tenancy’s rent is managed outside COHO (no rent schedule in COHO).
- Hide Tenant Rent is set to Yes on the tenancy.
- The tenancy is excluded from chasing.
- The charge is still within its grace period, or isn’t due until today.
- The tenancy isn’t active (for example it has ended), or the room is disabled.
- The property doesn’t use Rent Collection.
- The rent was never added to the rent schedule, or the charge was marked as bad debt, reversed or deleted.
- A filter is hiding it, such as Days Overdue, Arrears, Money types, a tag or Exclude actioned today.
How to fix it:
- Set up the rent schedule in Rent Collection.
- Click Edit Tenancy and set Hide Tenant Rent to No.
- Choose Find by > All Tenancies, click View, and set Arrears Tracking to Included.
- Wait for the grace period to end, or check Due Today or Due in past 1-5 days.
- Add Past tenancy in the tenancy status filter.
- Turn on Rent Collection for the property.
- Check the tenancy’s charges in Rent Collection.
- Clear the filters and click Filter.
A tenant shows in arrears but doesn’t owe anything
Section titled “A tenant shows in arrears but doesn’t owe anything”Why it happens:
- A payment in Rent Collection isn’t linked to a charge, so it isn’t counted. The panel warns “You have [number] unassociated rent payments”.
- A payment was linked to a later charge, leaving an earlier one unpaid. The tenancy is listed because of the old charge, even if Due is £0 or shows a credit in green brackets.
- A £0 or leftover charge (for example a holding deposit from onboarding) is still open.
- The payment hasn’t been recorded in COHO yet, for example your bank feed isn’t connected.
How to fix it: open the tenancy in Rent Collection, then link the payment to the right charges, log the missing payment, or delete or mark paid the leftover charge. Then click Filter in Credit Control to refresh.
The amount is different from the rental statement or Rent Collection
Section titled “The amount is different from the rental statement or Rent Collection”Why it happens: Credit Control looks at the tenancy as a whole: it adds up all unpaid overdue charges and takes off payments made towards rent not yet due. Rent Collection lists each charge, so a part-paid older charge can show more overdue there. Money types can also limit what Credit Control counts.
How to fix it: clear Money types, and check which charges each payment is linked to. Both figures can be right.
No next step is proposed
Section titled “No next step is proposed”Why it happens:
- You haven’t created any templates, or none is Absolute Arrears.
- The tenancy doesn’t yet meet any trigger (days or amount).
- You’ve already run the step for this stage, or a later one. COHO only proposes steps beyond the last one run.
- The tenancy is excluded.
- The template is Relative Arrears or Manual only; these are never proposed.
- The template is archived.
How to fix it: click View. Every step the tenancy qualifies for is listed there, and you can run any of them. Check your templates in Credit Control Settings.
Earlier steps aren’t proposed for a tenant who fell behind again
Section titled “Earlier steps aren’t proposed for a tenant who fell behind again”Why it happens: COHO remembers the last step run for each tenancy, even after the arrears are cleared. It only proposes steps with a later trigger.
How to fix it: click View, open the step you want (for example your first email), and send it. COHO then proposes from there.
A later step is proposed, skipping some in between
Section titled “A later step is proposed, skipping some in between”Why it happens: when a tenancy qualifies for several steps at once, COHO proposes the furthest one, unless an earlier Blocking step hasn’t run.
How to fix it: if you want to go in order, click View and run the earlier step instead. To make a step compulsory, edit its template and tick Blocking step.
A blocking step is holding up the next one
Section titled “A blocking step is holding up the next one”Why it happens: a template marked Blocking step (shown as Unskippable) is proposed until it has been run.
How to fix it: run it, or click View and run a later step instead, which moves the tenancy past it.
Execute proposed step skipped some tenancies
Section titled “Execute proposed step skipped some tenancies”Why it happens: it only sends Email steps. Tenancies whose next step is Manual, or that have no next step, are left out.
How to fix it: open those tenancies with View and do the manual step, then click Mark as carried out.
A bulk send row says “Failed to execute”
Section titled “A bulk send row says “Failed to execute””Why it happens: usually a tenant on that tenancy has no email address. The reason is shown under the row.
How to fix it: add the missing email address to the tenant, then send to that tenancy again from its card.
Create Proposed Escalation Policy didn’t add anything
Section titled “Create Proposed Escalation Policy didn’t add anything”Why it happens: it only adds templates when your organisation has never had any, including archived or deleted ones.
How to fix it: create the templates yourself with New credit control template. The table in Credit Control shows the proposed steps if you want to copy them.
Tracking From didn’t remove old arrears
Section titled “Tracking From didn’t remove old arrears”Why it happens: Tracking From records a date for your team, but the arrears total and days overdue still include all unpaid charges.
How to fix it: deal with old arrears in Rent Collection, for example write them off as bad debt, or exclude the tenancy from chasing.
A merge field is blank in the email
Section titled “A merge field is blank in the email”Why it happens: the field has no value for this tenancy. For example, [CC:AMOUNT_OVERDUE] is empty or £0 when the tenancy owes nothing, and guarantor fields are blank with no guarantor.
How to fix it: open Email Preview on the tenancy’s card, which shows the email with its real figures. Check the merge field is typed exactly as shown in the template’s merge field help.
I can’t send a reminder from Rent Collection for a joint tenancy
Section titled “I can’t send a reminder from Rent Collection for a joint tenancy”Why it happens: Rent Collection’s Send a Reminder only works for a tenancy with one tenant.
How to fix it: use Credit Control, which emails every tenant. See Send a reminder to a joint tenancy.
The guarantor wasn’t copied in
Section titled “The guarantor wasn’t copied in”Why it happens: the template doesn’t have Automatically CC the guarantor, if one exists ticked, the guarantor has no email address, or you turned off CC Guarantor when customising.
How to fix it: edit the template, or use Customise email and switch on CC Guarantor before sending.
I need copies of the chasers we sent
Section titled “I need copies of the chasers we sent”Why it happens: a solicitor, court or tenant needs evidence.
How to fix it: on the room’s Compliance panel, click Compliance report. Its CREDIT CONTROL section includes each email’s recipients, subject, body and attachments. See Get a record of what was sent.
Error messages
Section titled “Error messages”| Message | Why | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| “You do not have permission to view credit control for this organisation” | Your role has no Credit Control access | Ask an admin for view permission |
| “You do not have permission to manage credit control for this organisation” | Your role can view but not change Credit Control | Ask an admin for edit permission |
| “Tenant does not have a valid email address” | A tenant on the tenancy has no email | Add the email to the tenant, then send again |
| “Execution of medium not supported and needs to be developed” | The template isn’t an email or manual step | Edit the template and choose Send email or Manual |
| “Template not found” | The template was deleted, or someone else changed it | Reload and choose another template |
| “Tenancy not found” | The tenancy was deleted or moved | Reload the list |
| “Name of template/trigger is required”, “Subject is required”, “Body is required” | A required field is empty | Fill it in |
| “Days overdue should be below the maximum: 365” | Days overdue/late is over 365 | Use 365 or fewer |
| “Amount overdue should be above the minimum: 1” | Arrears greater than is under £1 | Enter £1 or more |
| “Rent cycles overdue should be above the minimum: 1” | The number of rent periods is 0 | Enter 1 or more |
| “Reply address should be a valid email address” | Reply To isn’t an email address | Correct it |
| “Template is required” | You clicked Send in bulk without choosing a template | Choose one in Choose template |
| “Cannot send a rent due notification on a tenancy with multiple tenants. Try the credit control tool which supports this.” | Shown in Rent Collection for a joint tenancy | Use Credit Control |