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Debt Relief Order (DRO) Statistics

How many debt relief orders are made each month and year in England and Wales, who gets them, and what changed after the £90 fee was scrapped and the debt limit rose to £50,000 in 2024.

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Things to know about IVAs

An IVA is a formal insolvency procedure. It must be approved by your creditors, stays on your credit file for six years, fees are taken from your payments, and debts are only written off if you complete it. It isn’t right for everyone.

Read the key risks
  • Creditors must approve it. An IVA only goes ahead if creditors holding at least 75% of the debt that is voted agree. Your proposal can be rejected.
  • Credit file and public register. An IVA stays on your credit file for six years from the start date and is listed on the public Individual Insolvency Register while it runs. Getting credit will be harder.
  • Spending restrictions and annual reviews. You live on an agreed budget for the length of the IVA (usually 5–6 years). Your income and spending are reviewed each year, and your payment can go up.
  • Fees. Fees are taken from your monthly payments, so less of what you pay reaches your creditors. How IVA fees work.
  • Your home. Under the current IVA Protocol, your home isn’t included in the IVA and you won’t be asked to remortgage. If your share of the equity is £10,000 or more, the IVA usually lasts six years instead of five.
  • If it fails. If you can’t keep up payments the IVA may fail, you would owe the remaining debt again, and the supervisor may petition for your bankruptcy.
  • Write-off only on completion. Remaining qualifying unsecured debts are only written off if the IVA is completed successfully. Secured debts, court fines, child maintenance, student loans and some other debts can’t be included.
  • Other options may suit you better. A debt management plan, DRO or bankruptcy may be more suitable. IVAs are available in England, Wales and Northern Ireland only; different solutions apply in Scotland.

Last updated: 30 October 2026 · Latest data: September 2026 · Compiled by IVA Advice Online from Insolvency Service official statistics

A debt relief order (DRO) is a form of insolvency for people with low income, few assets and debts below a set limit. It lasts 12 months, and most of the debts it includes are written off at the end. This page tracks how many DROs are made in England and Wales each month and year since they began in 2009, the rate per 10,000 adults, who gets them, and what happened after the rules changed in 2024.

46,939DROs in England and Wales in 2025, the most in any year since they began in 2009
35,951DROs January to September 2026, 3% more than in the same months of 2025
9.7DROs per 10,000 adults in the 12 months to September 2026, up from 5.1 in 2022

Monthly debt relief orders

The chart shows DROs made each month since January 2022. Months from April 2024, when the £90 application fee was removed, are shown in a darker colour.

Debt relief orders per month, England and Wales (actual numbers)Before 6 April 2024From April 2024 (no fee)
View monthly figures as a table (January 2020 to September 2026)
MonthDROsSeasonally adjustedRate per 10,000 adults (12 months to date)
Sep 20264,0383,8389.7
Aug 20263,7663,8749.7
Jul 20264,0773,8219.8
Jun 20263,9763,8509.8
May 20263,7694,1299.8
Apr 20263,8523,9939.8
Mar 20264,6374,4049.8
Feb 20264,3534,2409.6
Jan 20263,4833,8549.5
Dec 20253,9564,1949.5
Nov 20253,8383,8659.3
Oct 20254,2043,8649.3
Sep 20254,2403,9579.3
Aug 20253,8734,1419.3
Jul 20254,3173,9789.3
Jun 20254,0454,1269.3
May 20253,7213,8289.3
Apr 20253,6773,9499.3
Mar 20253,7123,5099.4
Feb 20253,8313,7349.1
Jan 20253,5253,7959.0
Dec 20243,0443,4228.8
Nov 20243,7943,7118.7
Oct 20244,0613,6958.6
Sep 20243,9553,9248.5
Aug 20243,8713,9418.3
Jul 20244,4494,0888.0
Jun 20243,8694,1887.7
May 20244,0064,0477.4
Apr 20243,8083,8347.1
Mar 20242,5922,6786.8
Feb 20243,0072,7886.9
Jan 20242,7932,9346.8
Dec 20232,4722,9586.6
Nov 20233,2903,0386.5
Oct 20233,2453,0686.3
Sep 20232,9132,9206.0
Aug 20232,7142,6655.8
Jul 20232,6672,6265.6
Jun 20232,3202,3335.4
May 20232,5052,4365.4
Apr 20232,3842,7435.3
Mar 20233,3833,0005.2
Feb 20232,0832,0215.0
Jan 20231,7411,9065.0
Dec 20221,9792,2105.1
Nov 20222,2692,1215.1
Oct 20221,8941,8115.0
Sep 20221,8121,7535.0
Aug 20221,9321,9045.1
Jul 20221,8361,8695.1
Jun 20221,9121,8905.1
May 20222,0332,0735.0
Apr 20221,9232,1184.9
Mar 20222,5132,1864.8
Feb 20222,2452,1864.6
Jan 20221,8732,0994.4
Dec 20211,8722,0344.3
Nov 20212,0541,8864.1
Oct 20211,9371,9244.0
Sep 20212,1502,0623.9
Aug 20211,7191,8093.8
Jul 20211,8671,7863.7
Jun 20211,4161,4273.7
May 20211,5291,5753.7
Apr 20211,4291,4663.7
Mar 20211,5941,4153.8
Feb 20211,3941,3693.9
Jan 20211,1751,3824.1
Dec 20201,2431,3394.4
Nov 20201,4301,3974.5
Oct 20201,5751,4884.7
Sep 20201,5301,5204.9
Aug 20201,3341,4505.1
Jul 20201,6261,5285.3
Jun 20201,7791,7605.4
May 20201,5441,6455.5
Apr 20201,4971,5415.7
Mar 20202,3142,0995.8
Feb 20202,3922,3245.9
Jan 20202,2092,3825.9

Source: Insolvency Service, individual insolvency statistics, September 2026, Tables 1a, 1b and 2 and long-run series.1 Figures are provisional and can be revised. Seasonally adjusted figures remove regular calendar effects, so months can be compared more fairly.

  • There were 4,038 DROs in September 2026, compared with 4,240 in September 2025.1
  • Over the 12 months to September 2026 there were 47,949 DROs, an average of about 3,996 a month.1
  • The busiest month since DROs began in 2009 was March 2026, with 4,637 DROs.1

What changed in 2024

Two changes made DROs easier to get in 2024:2

  • 6 April 2024: the £90 application fee was removed, so a DRO is now free.
  • 28 June 2024: the debt limit rose from £30,000 to £50,000, and the value of a vehicle you can keep rose from £2,000 to £4,000.

The other limits stayed the same: less than £2,000 of assets and less than £75 a month spare income.3,7 These limits had last been raised in June 2021, when the debt limit went from £20,000 to £30,000.3

Average DROs per month, England and Wales, before and after the fee was removed
PeriodAverage per monthSeasonally adjustedChange
12 months before (April 2023 to March 2024)2,7422,766–
12 months after (April 2024 to March 2025)3,8273,824+40%
Latest 12 months (October 2025 to September 2026)3,9963,994+46%

Source: Insolvency Service, long-run series.1 Averages and changes are IVA Advice Online calculations. A simple before-and-after comparison doesn't separate the effect of the rule changes from other things happening at the same time.

The Insolvency Service reviewed the changes in a post-implementation review dated 18 December 2025 and published in July 2026. Using statistical modelling, it found:3,4

  • Removing the £90 fee led to a 78% increase in DROs (a range of 38% to 131%). It had a bigger effect than the new limits.
  • The higher debt and vehicle limits from June 2024 led to a 9% increase, which was not statistically significant.
  • Of the 45,685 DROs made between July 2024 and June 2025, 9,229 (20%) were for people who only qualified because of the new limits.
  • The 2021 changes led to a 27% increase in DROs.
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Debt relief orders by year

Debt relief orders per year, England and Wales, 2009 to 2025
Debt relief orders, England and Wales
YearDROsRate per 10,000 adultsShare of all insolvencies
2009 (Apr–Dec)11,877––
201025,2005.819%
201129,0156.624%
201231,1807.028%
201327,6386.227%
201426,6885.927%
201524,1775.330%
201626,1965.729%
201724,8945.425%
201827,6845.924%
201927,4675.922%
202020,4734.418%
202120,1364.318%
202224,2215.120%
202331,7176.631%
202443,2498.837%
202546,9399.537%
2026 (Jan–Sep)35,9519.7*34%

Source: Insolvency Service, Tables 1b and 2 and long-run series.1 DROs began in April 2009, so 2009 covers nine months. *Rate for the 12 months to September 2026. Shares are IVA Advice Online calculations.

  • DROs rose to 31,180 in 2012, then fell to a low of 20,136 in 2021, during the pandemic.1
  • Since 2022 they have almost doubled, to 46,939 in 2025. The rate per 10,000 adults went from 5.1 to 9.5.1
  • DROs made up 37% of all individual insolvencies in 2025, up from 20% in 2022.1 See our UK debt statistics for IVAs and bankruptcies.

DROs by age and gender

DROs per 10,000 adults by age, 2025
DROs per 10,000 adults by gender, 2015–2025WomenMen
View DRO rates by age and gender, 2015–2025
DROs per 10,000 adults, England and Wales
Year18-2425-3435-4445-5455-6465+All agesWomenMen
20153.37.47.17.85.21.45.36.73.8
20162.88.08.18.55.71.45.77.24.1
20172.67.97.97.65.31.25.46.83.8
20183.29.18.88.25.81.25.97.64.2
20193.29.08.78.05.81.35.97.54.1
20202.86.76.65.74.10.94.45.53.1
20212.36.36.55.94.20.94.35.23.0
20222.37.08.27.35.01.35.16.33.4
20233.89.810.38.96.11.46.68.24.5
20245.613.314.112.28.01.78.810.86.7
20255.613.916.113.38.71.89.611.57.5

Source: Insolvency Service, individual insolvencies by age and gender, England and Wales, 2015 to 2025.5 2025 figures are provisional.

  • People aged 35-44 had the highest DRO rate in 2025, at 16.1 per 10,000 adults. People aged 65 and over had the lowest, at 1.8.5
  • Women had a DRO rate of 11.5 per 10,000 in 2025, compared with 7.5 for men, about 1.5 times as high.5
  • Rates rose in every age group between 2022 and 2025. For 35 to 44 year olds the rate went from 8.2 to 16.1.5

For all types of insolvency by age, see insolvency by age and gender. For local areas, see the UK insolvency map.

Who approves DROs

You can't apply for a DRO yourself. You apply through an approved intermediary, a trained debt adviser working for an organisation (a "competent authority") authorised by the Insolvency Service. The table shows how many DROs each authorising body handled.

Debt relief orders by authorising body, England and Wales
Authorising body20222023202420252026 (Jan–Sep)Share of 2025
Benesse Advice Ltd2,34714,10622,05625,05820,03653.4%
Citizens Advice7,5878,88713,52314,01610,32129.9%
The Institute of Money Advisers1,5581,5652,1012,1731,6314.6%
Community Money Advice1,3411,5751,8661,8931,3354.0%
Christians Against Poverty1,1291,4991,5721,3277912.8%
AdviceUK9409151,2471,2999362.8%
Moneyplus1532856084761.3%
National Debt Line3102403783563000.8%
Payplan Partnership Limited963240177157910.3%
Shelter29204452340.1%
Angel Advance Limited63220000.0%
StepChange Debt Charity7,9532,5950000.0%
Total24,22131,71743,24946,93935,951100%

Source: Insolvency Service, Table 7a.1 Citizens Advice is listed in the official table as "National Association of Citizens Advice Bureau". Shares are IVA Advice Online calculations.

  • In 2025, Benesse Advice Ltd handled 25,058 DROs (53%) and Citizens Advice handled 14,016 (30%).1
  • Benesse Advice Ltd handled 2,347 DROs in 2022. Its increase to 2025 (22,711) accounts for most of the overall rise in DROs over that time (22,718).1
  • StepChange Debt Charity handled 7,953 DROs in 2022 and none in 2025.1
View every authorising body, 2016–2025
Authorising body2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Citizens Advice13,99312,97213,67813,6749,0087,4347,5878,88713,52314,016
Benesse Advice Ltd3002963524252139242,34714,10622,05625,058
StepChange Debt Charity4,5424,4356,3446,0636,1566,5267,9532,59500
The Institute of Money Advisers3,3082,6422,6102,4681,5411,2851,5581,5652,1012,173
Christians Against Poverty1,2891,4661,2461,1151,0749021,1291,4991,5721,327
AdviceUK1,4581,2061,4231,5409369129409151,2471,299
Community Money Advice414968391,0847511,0421,3411,5751,8661,893
National Debt Line688846739606408333310240378356
Payplan Partnership Limited457504395411327673963240177157
Moneyplus000000153285608
Shelter27315754231729204452
Angel Advance Limited001273688632200
Debt Release Direct Limited50000000000
Baines & Ernst43000000000
Total26,19624,89427,68427,46720,47320,13624,22131,71743,24946,939

DROs in the rest of the UK

The figures above are for England and Wales. Northern Ireland has its own DRO scheme, with 246 DROs in 2025 and 182 from January to September 2026 (192 in the same months of 2025).6 Scotland doesn't have DROs. People with low income and few assets there may use the Minimal Asset Process (MAP), a simpler form of bankruptcy. See our Scotland debt statistics and bankruptcy statistics.

How a DRO works

A DRO lasts 12 months. During that time most creditors included in it can't take action to recover their money, and at the end those debts are written off. Some debts, such as student loans and court fines, can't be included. You must apply through an approved debt adviser. A DRO is a form of insolvency: it's added to the Individual Insolvency Register (until 3 months after it ends) and stays on your credit record for 6 years, and there are restrictions, for example on borrowing more than £500 without telling the lender.7 Our guides explain what a debt relief order is, how DROs work, how they compare with IVAs in IVA vs DRO, and DROs for council tax debt.

Common questions

How many debt relief orders are there each year?

There were 46,939 debt relief orders (DROs) in England and Wales in 2025, up from 43,249 in 2024. That is the highest number in any calendar year since DROs began in April 2009. From January to September 2026 there were 35,951. Source: Insolvency Service.

Did DROs go up after the £90 fee was scrapped?

Yes. The £90 fee was removed on 6 April 2024. In the 12 months before, there were about 2,742 DROs a month. In the 12 months after, there were about 3,827 a month, 40% more (IVA Advice Online calculation from Insolvency Service figures). The Insolvency Service's own review found that removing the fee led to a 78% increase in DROs.

What are the DRO limits now?

Since 28 June 2024 you're generally eligible if you owe less than £50,000, have less than £2,000 of assets, don't own a vehicle worth £4,000 or more, and have less than £75 a month spare income. You must also have lived or worked in England or Wales in the last 3 years and not applied for a DRO in the last 6 years. There has been no fee since 6 April 2024. Sources: Insolvency Service and GOV.UK.

Who gets debt relief orders?

In 2025, people aged 35-44 had the highest DRO rate, at 16.1 per 10,000 adults. Women are more likely than men to get a DRO: 11.5 per 10,000 women compared with 7.5 per 10,000 men in 2025. Source: Insolvency Service.

What share of insolvencies are DROs?

DROs made up 37% of all individual insolvencies in England and Wales in 2025 (46,939 of 126,278), up from 20% in 2022. IVAs are still the most common type of insolvency. IVA Advice Online calculation from Insolvency Service figures.

Are DROs available in Scotland and Northern Ireland?

Not in Scotland, which has its own system, including the Minimal Asset Process (MAP) form of bankruptcy. Northern Ireland has its own DRO scheme with its own rules. There were 246 DROs in Northern Ireland in 2025. Source: Insolvency Service (Northern Ireland figures from the Department for the Economy).

Using these statistics

You're welcome to use the figures on this page. Please credit the original source shown for each figure, and link to this page if it helped you find them:

Source: IVA Advice Online, "Debt Relief Order Statistics", https://ivaadviceonline.com/debt-relief-order-statistics/

Download the data (CSV) – DROs in England and Wales by year since 2009 and by month since April 2009 (actual and seasonally adjusted, with the 12-month rate per 10,000 adults) to September 2026. DROs by authorising body (CSV). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Struggling with debt? Free, impartial debt advice is available from StepChange, National Debtline and Citizens Advice. Our guides explain how IVAs, debt management plans, debt relief orders and bankruptcy work, including the downsides of each.
More debt statistics

Sources

  1. Insolvency Service, Individual insolvency statistics: September 2026, published 20 October 2026. Tables 1a, 1b, 2, 7a and 9, and the accompanying long-run series (CSV), monthly from April 2009.
  2. Insolvency Service, "Changes to Debt Relief Orders will support people in financial distress", published 5 April 2024.
  3. Insolvency Service, Changes to Debt Relief Order criteria: post implementation review (PIR DBT-067-25-INSS), dated 18 December 2025, paragraphs 3.25 to 3.35.
  4. Insolvency Service, "Insolvency Service review confirms reforms have widened important access to debt relief", published 10 July 2026.
  5. Insolvency Service, Individual insolvencies by location, age and gender, England and Wales, 2025, age and gender data tables, published 27 March 2026. Tables 3a and 3b.
  6. Insolvency Service, Individual insolvency statistics: September 2026, published 20 October 2026. Table 9 (Northern Ireland, source: Department for the Economy, Northern Ireland).
  7. GOV.UK, "Options for dealing with your debts: Debt Relief Orders", checked 30 October 2026.

This page provides general information, not advice about your circumstances.

Related guides

What Is a Debt Relief Order? →IVA vs DRO →Insolvency by Age and Gender →

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