Analysis of net write offs (WO) return

Details about net write offs (form WO) return including deadlines, instructions, and contact details.

Key facts

Data to be reported:

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:

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 2026 will be released in October 2025.

 

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

Box codes and related documents

These documents were used as part of a previous reporting method (XML) and are no longer applicable to XBRL reporting. They are still available to help firms as we transition to the new ways of working.

This page was last updated 25 November 2024