XML 40 R13.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT
v3.3.1.900

Deferred Court Costs, Net | 12 Months Ended
--- | ---
Dec. 31, 2015
Deferred Costs, Capitalized, Prepaid, and Other Assets Disclosure [Abstract] |
Deferred Court Costs, Net | Deferred Court Costs, Net The Company pursues legal collections using a network of attorneys that specialize in collection matters and through its internal legal channel. The Company generally pursues collections through legal means only when it believes a consumer has sufficient assets to repay their indebtedness but has, to date, been unwilling to pay. In order to pursue legal collections the Company is required to pay certain upfront costs to the applicable courts which are recoverable from the consumer (“Deferred Court Costs”). The Company capitalizes Deferred Court Costs in its consolidated financial statements and provides a reserve for those costs that it believes will ultimately be uncollectible. The Company determines the reserve based on its analysis of court costs that have been advanced and those that have been recovered. The Company writes off any Deferred Court Cost not recovered within five years of placement. Collections received from debtors are first applied against related court costs with the balance applied to the debtors’ account balance. Deferred Court Costs for the five-year deferral period consist of the following as of the dates presented (in thousands):
| December 31, 2015 |  | December 31, 2014
Court costs advanced | $ | 636,922 |  |  | $ | 546,271 |
Court costs recovered | (242,899 | ) |  | (206,287 | )
Court costs reserve | (318,784 | ) |  | (279,572 | )
| $ | 75,239 |  |  | $ | 60,412 |
A roll forward of the Company’s court cost reserve is as follows (in thousands):
| December 31, 2015 |  | December 31, 2014 |  | December 31, 2013
Balance at beginning of period | $ | (279,572 | ) |  | $ | (210,889 | ) |  | $ | (149,080 | )
Provision for court costs | (82,593 | ) |  | (69,062 | ) |  | (61,809 | )
Net down of reserve after 60 months | 42,745 |  |  | — |  |  | — |
Effect of foreign currency translation | 636 |  |  | 379 |  |  | — |
Balance at end of period | $ | (318,784 | ) |  | $ | (279,572 | ) |  | $ | (210,889 | )

X
- Definition Deferred court costs. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | ecpg_DeferredCourtCostsTextBlock
Namespace Prefix: | ecpg_
Data Type: | nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- References No definition available. + Details
Name: | us-gaap_DeferredCostsCapitalizedPrepaidAndOtherAssetsDisclosureAbstract
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration