Analysis of net write offs (WO) return

Key facts

Data to be reported:	Changes in the value of assets over the quarter that do not result from market valuation changes.
Who has to report:	Discretionary, but generally write-offs over the previous year exceeding £10mn. Check who needs to submit returns
Data uses:	Multiple, including: Money and credit release (Bank of England) Bankstats tables (Bank of England) Monetary policy report (Bank of England) Balance of payments (ONS) National accounts (ONS)
Frequency:	Quarterly
Coverage:	Go to reporting criteria to find detailed calculations used to determine eligibility

Deadlines

Firms need to report figures as at the last calendar day of the reporting period.

Go to reporting criteria to download deadlines for all returns for all available years.

Reporting period	Reporters impacted	Deadline (5pm UK time)	Concessionary deadline (5pm UK time)

*If concessionary deadlines are applicable to your firm submission this will have been communicated directly by the Bank of England. If you have not received any such communication please adhere to the standard deadlines.

Deadlines for 2027 will be released in November 2026.

Instructions

Overview of reported data

This return captures reporting institutions’ full or partial write-offs of loans, as well as the value of any discounts when disposing of other assets at a discount to book value. This includes breakdowns of: 

• UK residents, including monetary financial institutions (including banks and building societies), public sector, financial corporations, non-financial corporations, individuals and individuals trust, and non-residents (including deposit taking corporations)

It also captures:

• currency breakdowns – sterling and euro – with foreign currencies to be reported in sterling

In every return firms also need to include:

• their company name
• their legal entity identifier (LEI) or firm reference number (FRN)
• the first day of the reporting period
• the last day of the reporting period

Core documents

You can find detailed instructions in the documents below. 

Net write off (WO) specific documents

Document	Notes for WO reporters	Last updated
Form WO presentation (PPSX)	Includes a high level overview of WO with tips for common reporting issues	1 Nov 2023
BoE statistics data point model (DPM) 1.3.0 (ZIP)	A folder containing two documents for defining all statistical reporting: annotated templates and a data dictionary.  The Table of Contents worksheet in the annotated templates shows reporting templates relating to form WO.	24 Oct 2022
WO definitions (PDF)	Includes details of what’s in scope and definitions of WO-specific terms	1 Feb 2015
BoE statistics validations 1.3.0 (XLSX)	Business validations for cross-checking data points within form MQ and the suite of other statistical returns View column O for a clearly worded description	24 Oct 2022
Further details about write-offs and other revaluations of loans by monetary financial institutions data (HTTPS)	Further details about write including covering primarily full or partial write-offs of loans, as well as the value of any discounts when disposing of other assets at a discount to book value.	31 Jan 2023
Reporting of bad and doubtful debts for loans made under government coronavirus loan schemes (HTTPS)	Guidance to reporters about how bad and doubtful debts, and the potentially resulting guarantees received on loans made under the government coronavirus loan guarantees, should be reported.	1 Oct 2021

All statistical returns

Document	Notes for all reporters	Last updated
Classification of accounts guide (PDF)	Includes detailed guidance on how to classify counterparties plus country lists	24 Apr 2024
General notes and definitions (PDF)	Includes an introduction to preparing returns and definitions of common terms	24 Apr 2024