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Deferred Court Costs, Net - Schedule of Deferred Court Costs (Detail) (USD $)
In Thousands, unless otherwise specified
 3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2015
Dec. 31, 2014
Mar. 31, 2014
Dec. 31, 2013
Deferred Costs, Capitalized, Prepaid, and Other Assets Disclosure [Abstract]        
Deferred court costs, not recovered, term prior to write off 5 years      
Court costs advanced $ 570,520ecpg_DeferredCourtCostsAdvanced $ 546,271ecpg_DeferredCourtCostsAdvanced    
Court costs recovered (215,662)ecpg_DeferredCourtCostsRecovered (206,287)ecpg_DeferredCourtCostsRecovered    
Court costs reserve (290,383)ecpg_DeferredCourtCostsReserve (279,572)ecpg_DeferredCourtCostsReserve (227,067)ecpg_DeferredCourtCostsReserve (210,889)ecpg_DeferredCourtCostsReserve
Deferred court costs, net $ 64,475us-gaap_OtherDeferredCostsNet $ 60,412us-gaap_OtherDeferredCostsNet