The phrase "are likely to default" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used in contexts discussing the probability of someone or something failing to meet obligations, particularly in finance or contracts.
Example: "Due to the economic downturn, many borrowers are likely to default on their loans."
Alternatives: "are prone to default" or "are at risk of defaulting".
Mortgage specialists expect more downgrades because more homeowners are likely to default on loans as house prices fall and it becomes harder to refinance loans.
Professor Altman has devised a widely used method for predicting when companies are likely to default, or become unable to pay interest on their bonds.
Since unemployed households are likely to default on their debt, the default rate on all loans goes up, including other banks' loans to other households.
The HCAI measures the percentage of loans that are likely to default, meaning they would go unpaid for 90 days or more past their due date.
Here is Wall Street actively encouraging subprime lenders to lower their already low standards — and then buying those loans knowing they are likely to default, but not caring.
Instead, they've found that looking at unpaid collections in concert with other variables is a better predictor of whether consumers are likely to default on their bills.
Moody's Economy.com recently estimated that three million subprime borrowers were likely to default over the next several years.
If Congress does not raise the debt limit, the US is likely to default on its debt.
It says that Adelphia is likely to default on a payment, related to a joint venture between the companies, on a $127.4 million note by July 2002.
In a separate action on the same day, Britain put the U.K. subsidiary of Kaupthing into administration, saying that the bank was likely to default on its depositors.
Current rules refer to "incurred losses," in which loans are written down as it becomes clear that a particular loan is likely to default.
