Complete BIIAB Occupational Qualification Accounting & Finance specification revision resources. Tailored syllabus coverage with topic breakdowns, quizzes, and practice questions.
Specification Topics
- Debtor Call Handling Principles
- Processing customers’ financial transactions
- Underwriting straightforward new risks
- Processing applications for financing and credit facilities
- Generating and qualifying sales leads
- Support customers using on-line customer services
- Preparation for Debt Collection Principles
- Operating a sterling counter till
- Dealing with customers by telephone in a financial services environment
- Selling by telephone - inbound
- Selling by telephone - outbound
- Processing straightforward new insurance claims notifications
- Deliver reliable customer service
- Debt Collection Case Management Principles _pre legal_
- Authorising financial transactions using telecommunications
- Assessing and using straightforward financial information to reconcile accounts
- Complying with regulations within the financial services environment
- Promoting the organisation’s additional financial services products and services
- Payment Processing Practice
- Processing documentation for bank or building society accounts
- Operating payment by instalments
- Dealing with straightforward claims for insured losses
- Processing life, pensions and investment business applications
- Processing straightforward insurance business as an intermediary
- Improving and maintaining workplace competence in a financial services environment
- Selling face to face
- Give customers a positive impression of yourself and your organisation.
- Deal with customers using bespoke software
- Debt Collection Negotiations Practice
- Debtor Call Handling Practice
- Providing information to customers in a financial services environment
- Processing straightforward insurance policy documentation
- Processing straightforward mid-term amendments
- Processing straightforward requests for payment against life, pensions and investment contracts
- Processing documentation for financing and credit facilities
- Dealing with requests to cancel financial services products or services
- Resolve customer service problems
- Debt Repayment Monitoring Practice
- Preparing and pursuing statements of account for financial products and services
- Processing payments relating to stakeholder investment transactions or accounts
- Underwriting straightforward alterations to life, pensions and investment contracts
- Contributing to reports for mortgage and/or financial planning clients
- Payment Processing Principles
- Assessing and using complex financial information to reconcile accounts
- Planning and organising work in a financial services environment
- Underwriting straightforward policy alterations
- Settling straightforward insurance claims
- Processing documentation for straightforward life, pensions and investment contracts
- Preparing and delivering a sales demonstration
- Debt Collection Negotiations Principles
- Preparation for Debt Collection Practice
- Setting up bank or building society accounts for customers
- Agreeing the settlement of straightforward claims for uninsured losses
- Building effective relationships with clients in a financial services environment
- Operating credit control procedures
- Debt Repayment Monitoring Principles
- Processing straightforward insurance renewals
- Processing straightforward claims for uninsured losses
- Processing straightforward insurance renewals as an intermediary
- Assessing and using financial information to reconcile stakeholder investment accounts
- Providing an administrative service for mortgage and/or financial planning clients
- Debt Collection Case Management Practice _pre legal_
- Operating a multi-currency till
- Processing instructions for straightforward mortgage and/or financial planning business
Top Exam Board Tips
- Link your call handling approach to the Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) principles, especially 'Treating Customers Fairly'.
- Use the call recording as evidence of your competence—ensure it demonstrates thoroughness, legality, and professionalism.
- In role-play assessments, articulate your thought process to show underlying knowledge of why you choose certain questions or phrases.
- Always reference the specific regulation or professional standard (e.g., DPA 2018, POCA 2002) when explaining compliance steps in written assessments.
- Structure coursework to include a real or simulated transaction log, demonstrating each step from initiation to reconciliation, with annotations showing compliance checks.
- In role‐play assessments, verbally articulate your actions (e.g., 'I am now verifying the customer’s ID against a government‐issued document') to demonstrate conscious compliance.
- Prepare for questions on error resolution by reviewing common transaction failures (duplicate payments, incorrect account numbers) and the correct corrective procedures.
- Always structure your answer around the underwriting cycle: gather, assess, check, decide, document.
- Use the exact terminology from policy wordings and regulatory handbooks to demonstrate precise knowledge.
- In case-study questions, explicitly state any assumptions you make about missing information before proceeding.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Neglecting to confirm debtor identity before discussing sensitive financial information, breaching data protection.
- Failing to prepare adequately for outbound calls, leading to unstructured conversations and missed resolution opportunities.
- Using pressurising or judgemental language which can escalate conflict and contravene fair treatment principles.
- Recording insufficient or inaccurate call details, resulting in audit trail gaps and potential compliance failures.
- Failing to verify customer identity before processing a transaction, especially for high-value or unusual requests.
- Confusing the requirements for different payment types (e.g., treating a CHAPS payment like a BACS transfer).
- Not retaining transaction records for the required statutory period or misplacing documentation.
- Neglecting to obtain necessary authorisation for transactions above personal mandate limits.
Key Terminology & Definitions
- Outbound call planning
- Professional call conduct
- Debtor engagement techniques
- Compliant call recording
- Data protection in calls
- Handling challenging conversations
- Transaction reconciliation
- Regulatory compliance and reporting
- Customer due diligence
- Payment systems and processing
- Data integrity and confidentiality
- Risk identification and classification
- Policy interpretation and coverage
- Underwriting decision-making workflow
- Regulatory and legal compliance