TOUGH financial times have contributed to an 80 per cent caseload explosion for debt collectors, who predict the sea of debtors will rise further.
Hong Kong managers of international collection firm Total Credit Management Services said the surge was 'drastic', with the bulk of the debt owed by people unable to pay everyday bills.
Managing director Benedict Wong Chi-kwong said other firms had crossed the legal line in pursuing debts, but that his company worked within the law.
'Compared with the first half year of 1997, this year we have received 80 per cent more cases. It's a drastic increase,' Mr Wong said.
'It doesn't mean we make lots more money, it just means we have a much bigger caseload.
'We will have to wait, but it's my view things will continue to be bad in the second half of the year,' he said.
Mr Wong said there were unscrupulous companies 'mixed up' with professional collectors, but his team of six men and two women - predominantly ex-police officers - stuck firmly to the law.