In this article
ADDACS, ARUDD and AUDDIS are the three Bacs reporting services that tell you what happened to a direct debit. ADDACS reports amendments and cancellations to a mandate, ARUDD reports payments the payer's bank couldn't apply, and AUDDIS reports new mandates the bank refused to set up. Each message carries a one-character reason code.
The codes matter because they tell you whether to retry, re-sign the mandate or pick up the phone, and those three responses look nothing like each other.
The short version
- ADDACS covers changes and cancellations to an existing mandate, ARUDD covers returned payments, and AUDDIS covers rejected new mandates.
- Bacs publishes what the three services do in its glossary but doesn't publish the code lists. Those live in the service user's guide, behind a login.
- So every code table on the open web, including ours, is a provider's reproduction of a private document.
- We cross-checked five providers. The AUDDIS list agreed everywhere, and two genuine disagreements survived, both flagged below.
- Of the cancellations on our own book that carry a specific code, the payer cancelling and the account closing account for 66.2% between them, and disputes for well under 1% (Adfin platform data).
The short answer
A reason code tells you which of three things has happened to a collection. Read it before you do anything else, because a code that says the account is closed and a code that says the payer disputed the notice need opposite responses from you, and retrying the second one turns a complaint into a bigger complaint.
The lists below are the ones you'll see in your reports. What we can't offer you is a scheme-published version of them, and neither can anyone else.
Why these lists are provider reproductions
Bacs publishes plain definitions of the three services. ADDACS is "the Bacs service allowing PSPs to advise Direct Debit service users of any amendments to or cancellations of Direct Debit Instructions (DDIs)". ARUDD is "the service allowing PSPs to return Direct Debit payments to the service user that they could not apply". AUDDIS is "a Bacs service enabling Direct Debit Instructions (DDI) to be electronically setup or cancelled at paying PSP's by service users". All three definitions are in the public Bacs glossary.
We built the tables below by cross-checking what five providers publish, keeping the codes they agree on, and flagging the ones they don't. Where a code appears here, at least three independent providers describe it the same way. Where the lettering has gaps, we've left the gaps in rather than filling them from memory, because a plausible-looking invented code is worse for you than a missing one.
ADDACS codes: changes and cancellations
ADDACS is the report you'll read most often. It tells you a mandate has been amended, cancelled or reinstated at the payer's bank, and it usually arrives without any contact from your customer.
| Code | What it means | What it usually means for you |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Instruction cancelled, refer to payer | Collections stop. Contact your customer before you assume a dispute |
| 1 | Instruction cancelled by payer | The payer cancelled at their bank. A new mandate is needed to collect again |
| 2 | Payer deceased | Stop collecting and handle the account manually |
| 3 | Account transferred to a new bank or building society | The mandate needs re-establishing at the new bank |
| B | Account closed | Collections stop. You need new details and a new mandate |
| C | Account transferred (see the disagreement below) | Either a branch move or a move to a new bank, depending on whose list you read |
| D | Advance notice disputed | Your customer says they weren't properly notified. Check what you sent, and when |
| E | Instruction amended | The mandate details have changed. Update your records before the next collection |
| R | Instruction reinstated | A cancelled mandate is live again, so collections can resume |
Codes 4 to 9 don't appear in any provider list we checked for ADDACS. We can't tell you whether they exist and are simply undocumented in public, or whether the set genuinely runs 0 to 3 and then jumps to letters.
ARUDD codes: payments the bank returned
An ARUDD message means a collection was submitted and the payer's bank sent it back unapplied. The money never arrives, so this is the report your reconciliation depends on.
| Code | What it means |
|---|---|
| 0 | Refer to payer |
| 1 | Instruction cancelled |
| 2 | Payer deceased |
| 3 | Account transferred |
| 4 | Advance notice disputed |
| 5 | No account, or wrong account type |
| 6 | No instruction held |
| 7 | Amount differs |
| 8 | Amount not yet due |
| 9 | Presentation overdue |
| A | Service user differs |
| B | Account closed |
Three providers publish this list identically. A fourth labels an AUDDIS-shaped list as ARUDD. That looks like a mislabelling on their part, so we've gone with the three that agree.
Codes 7 to 9 are the interesting ones for a collecting business, because they point at your submission and not at your customer's bank balance. An amount differing from the advance notice, a collection presented before it's due, or one presented too late are all things you can fix at your end.
AUDDIS codes: mandates the bank rejected
AUDDIS is how new mandates are lodged electronically. When the payer's bank refuses one, you get a code back, and the mandate never becomes live. If you don't act on it, you'll be waiting for a collection that was never going to happen.
This is the one list where all five providers we checked agreed, with no disagreement at all.
| Code | What it means |
|---|---|
| 1 | Instruction cancelled by payer |
| 2 | Payer deceased |
| 3 | Account transferred |
| 5 | No account |
| 6 | No instruction |
| 7 | DDI amount not zero |
| B | Account closed |
| C | Account transferred to a different branch |
| F | Invalid account type |
| G | Bank will not accept direct debits on account |
| H | Instruction has expired |
| I | Payer reference is not unique |
| K | Instruction cancelled by paying bank |
| L | Incorrect payer's account details |
| M | Transaction code or user status incompatible |
| N | Transaction disallowed at payer's branch |
| O | Invalid reference |
| P | Payer's name not present |
| Q | Service user's name blank |
Most of what shows up here is a data problem you can correct: a mistyped account number, a reference you've already used, a missing name. Those get fixed and resubmitted. The rest tell you the account can't take a direct debit at all, and then you need a different account or a different payment method.
Which reasons come up most often
Every article on this subject lists the codes. None of them tells you which codes you'll actually see, so here's what our own mandate book looks like.
The caveat first, because it changes how much weight the numbers can carry. Only 3.4% of the cancelled mandates on our book carry a specific reason code, 816 of them. Everything else came back as a generic reason or none at all. So this describes the coded minority and not cancellations as a whole, which is exactly why nobody publishes a distribution.
| Reason | Share of coded cancellations |
|---|---|
| Instruction cancelled by payer | 37.3% |
| Account closed | 28.9% |
| Reinstated | 22.4% |
| Mandate not found | 5.0% |
| Incorrect bank details | 3.1% |
| Migration timeout | 2.6% |
| Dispute raised too early | 5 cases |
| Amount disputed | 1 case |
(Adfin platform data)
Two things stand out if you're deciding where to put your effort. Your customer cancelling at their bank and the account being closed together make up 66.2% of the coded cancellations, and both are administrative events you find out about after the fact. Disputes, the outcome most businesses worry about, account for 6 of 816.
The 22.4% sitting under reinstated is notable too. A reinstatement means a mandate that was cancelled has come back, so a cancellation message isn't always the end of the relationship, and treating every one as a lost customer would have you chasing people who are still paying you.
How to respond when a code lands
No general guidance on what to do per code exists in any public source. One provider documents a response for each code, and only as its own product workflow. So the following is our reading of what each code means, not a scheme instruction.
- Sort the codes into three buckets: the customer has gone, the details have changed, or your submission was wrong. Almost every code falls into one of them.
- Where the details have changed, get new ones and set up a fresh mandate. An account transfer or a closed account will keep failing until you do.
- Where your submission was wrong, fix it and resubmit. An invalid reference or a duplicate payer reference costs you a collection cycle and nothing more.
- Where advance notice is disputed, look at what you sent before you reply. That code points at your notice, so the evidence you need is already in your own records.
- Where the payer cancelled, ask them why before you assume the worst. Given how many cancellations turn out to be reinstatements, a quick message is often all it takes.
- Act on the message the day it arrives. A collection attempted against a mandate the bank has already told you about is the kind of thing that becomes an indemnity claim.
Codes only help you if somebody reads them. On Adfin they're applied to the mandate automatically, so a cancelled or amended instruction updates your records without anyone opening a report, and you can see which of your mandates went quiet and why.
Common questions
What's the difference between AUDDIS, ADDACS and ARUDD? AUDDIS is the service for lodging new mandates electronically, so its codes tell you why a new mandate was rejected. ADDACS reports amendments and cancellations to mandates that already exist. ARUDD reports individual payments the payer's bank returned unapplied.
Where does Bacs publish the official reason code list? It doesn't, at least not publicly. The Bacs glossary defines the three services, but the code lists belong to the service user's guide on a password-protected microsite for registered service users. Every list on the open web is a provider's reproduction of that document.
What does ADDACS code C mean? Providers disagree. Two describe it as an account transferred to a different branch and three as an account transferred to a new bank or building society. Until the scheme's own list is checkable, treat it as the account having moved and confirm the details with your customer.
Which direct debit cancellation reason is the most common? On our own book, of the cancellations carrying a specific code, 37.3% are the payer cancelling at their bank and 28.9% are the account being closed. That covers 3.4% of cancellations, since the rest carry no specific code, so read it as an indication and not as the full picture.
Do I need to stop collecting when an ADDACS message arrives? For a cancellation, a closed account or a deceased payer, yes, and a new mandate is needed before you can collect again. An amendment means updating your records instead, and a reinstatement means you can carry on.
Are indemnity claim codes the same as ADDACS codes? No, though one provider publishes the eight-code indemnity set under an ADDACS heading. Indemnity claim codes describe why a payer's bank refunded them under the Direct Debit Guarantee, which is a separate process from mandate messaging.
Sources
- Bacs — glossary (accurate as of August 2026)
This article explains how direct debit reporting works and is not legal or financial advice. Last updated August 2026.
