Defaulting debtors can nearly always pay their debts if they tried, but they prefer not to – its a mentality thing, rather than a genuine poverty matter. I have a brother who never repays debts on principle, but he has no problem funding his fondness for slot machines.
The real strength of the debt-collection sector is that it does well in the economic down-turns too. CCP damaged itself just before the GFC by chasing growth too exuberantly, but as soon as the old guard were turfed out and replaced by the current Management, it did well at the tail-end of the GFC.
The negative for the sector is the loose way in which profits can be recorded for accounting purposes, which is a hazard for management who are either dishonest, or stupid, or both. These two characteristics lead to risk-taking (too much borrowing to accelerate exuberant growth) and criminal behaviour. This is why one cannot project the failures of some firms in the sector to apply to the whole sector.
There may be a negative factor that has eluded me, and I exclude regulatory threats, which I regard as the normal milieu in which the sector must operate.
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