Debt whose repayment is known to be impossible or unlikely. The failure of a borrower to make payments of principal or interest on the due dates is evidence that a debt is bad, but a debt can become bad even before failure to make payment if the borrower is known or believed to be insolvent. If payments are delayed, creditors who think that payment will eventually be made may be willing to formally reschedule debts, or merely to wait for payment without any formal agreement. At what stage write-off of bad debt should occur, that is, the creditors should cease to record them as assets in their accounts, is a matter of judgement. Institutions with numerous debts owing to them may make provision for losses without specifying which particular debts they regard as being uncollectable.