A stage-by-stage look at the Debt Respite Scheme: who qualifies, what creditors must stop doing during the 60 days, and what happens when the protection ends.
Need to know
- Breathing Space is a legal moratorium for people in England and Wales that pauses most creditor contact, enforcement and interest for up to 60 days.
- Only an FCA-authorised debt advice provider or a local authority can start it, and you must not have used it in the previous 12 months.
- It is not a payment holiday: keep paying ongoing liabilities, because the adviser can cancel the moratorium if you do not meet them.
- The mental health crisis version lasts as long as crisis treatment plus 30 days, and there is no limit on how often it can be used.
- When the 60 days end, creditors can resume action unless you have entered an alternative debt solution such as a DRO or an IVA.
When money troubles outrun your income, creditor letters and phone calls can make it hard to think straight. Breathing Space, the common name for the Debt Respite Scheme, is designed to give people in England and Wales a legally protected pause while they get debt advice. This article sets out the process in order, from the first conversation with a debt adviser to the day the protection ends, so you know what to expect at each stage and what to have ready.
What Breathing Space Is and What It Pauses
A creditor is any person or organisation you owe money to, such as a credit card provider, an energy supplier or a payday lender. Breathing Space gives you a moratorium, a legal term for a period during which creditors are barred from taking certain action against you.
A standard breathing space lasts up to 60 days. During that time, for the debts covered:
- creditors cannot contact you about them
- creditors cannot add interest or charges to them
- most enforcement action is paused, and ongoing court action is adjourned
The scheme does not write anything off. You will still need to make your debt repayments, and the point of the pause is to give you time to agree a plan with professional help. The government expected around 700,000 people to use the scheme in its first year after it launched on 4 May 2021. If your difficulties are with short-term loans in particular, our guide to struggling to repay a payday loan explains the options in detail.
Who Qualifies and Who Does Not
You cannot put yourself into Breathing Space; a debt adviser has to decide that you qualify. At the time you apply, you must:
- owe at least one qualifying debt to a creditor
- not be an undischarged bankrupt, which means a bankruptcy that has not yet ended
- not have a debt relief order (DRO), an individual voluntary arrangement (IVA) or an interim order
- not already be in a breathing space, or have had one in the previous 12 months, unless that one was for a mental health crisis
The adviser must also be satisfied that you cannot pay your debts and that a moratorium is the right form of protection. Someone with savings or assets that could clear the debts may be refused.
Some debts never qualify. Examples include student loans and fines from criminal convictions. Your adviser will identify which of your debts can be covered.
Breathing Space applies in England and Wales. The Northern Ireland Executive has agreed in principle to extend the scheme there through UK regulations, but until that happens, residents of Northern Ireland need other routes to debt help.
Step One: The Debt Adviser Conversation
Everything starts with a debt adviser. Only debt advice providers authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the UK’s financial regulator, and local authorities can start a breathing space. You can find free advisers through the MoneyHelper service, which offers confidential advice online, by phone and in person.
The application itself is free, although some debt advisers charge a fee, so ask before you commit.
Before the conversation, gather:
- statements and letters for each debt
- details of your income and regular spending
- any paperwork from courts or enforcement agents
The adviser will check your eligibility, look at your situation and submit an application to the Insolvency Service on your behalf if Breathing Space is the right thing for you. If it is not, they will talk through the alternatives instead.
The 60 Days: What Creditors Can and Cannot Do
Once the moratorium starts, each creditor you owe is notified through an electronic service and told the date the protection began. From that date, they must stop all action related to the debt and apply the protections. A creditor notified by post is treated as knowing about the moratorium from 4 working days after the notification was posted.
A debt that is only identified after the moratorium has started can still be protected. The creditor applies the protections from the date the notification is sent, or, for postal notifications, from 4 working days after posting.
Creditors who have questions are told to contact the debt advice provider named in the notification rather than pressing you directly. If a lender keeps contacting you anyway, keep records of the contact, because that evidence can be useful later. The same applies to money taken automatically: our guide to continuous payment authorities explains how lenders collect repayments from your card and how to stop them.
Your Duties While the Moratorium Runs
The protections come with obligations on your side. The scheme is explicitly not a payment holiday, so you should keep paying your ongoing liabilities such as rent, mortgage instalments and utility bills. The moratorium stops creditors recovering an included debt if you fall behind on it, but it does not make those payments disappear, and the adviser can cancel the breathing space if you do not meet your liabilities.
For a standard breathing space, you are also expected to engage with the debt advice process. The adviser reviews the moratorium partway through, and creditors can request a review or apply for cancellation in some circumstances. Staying in contact with your adviser, and acting on the plan you agree, is what turns the 60 days into something useful rather than a 60-day delay.
Important
Breathing Space pauses most collection action, not your obligations. Keep paying rent, utilities and any liabilities you and your adviser agree to maintain, because missing them can lead to the moratorium being cancelled.
The Mental Health Crisis Version: How It Differs
There is a second type, the mental health crisis breathing space, for people receiving mental health crisis treatment. That means treatment severe enough to justify detention in a hospital setting or removal to a place of safety, or other acute crisis treatment that an Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP) considers of equivalent severity, such as care from a crisis team. An AMHP is a specialist mental health professional approved to make these assessments.
The crisis version differs in several ways.
| Feature | Standard breathing space | Mental health crisis breathing space |
|---|---|---|
| Length | Up to 60 days | As long as crisis treatment lasts, plus 30 days |
| Repeat use | Once every 12 months | No limit while receiving crisis treatment |
| Debt advice required | Yes | No |
| Evidence needed | Adviser assessment | Certified evidence from an AMHP |
Because of the pressures of a crisis, you do not have to engage with debt advice during this version. Someone else, such as a carer, social worker or mental health nurse, can apply to a debt adviser on your behalf, and a nominated person keeps the adviser updated about your ongoing treatment. If your mental health is poor but you are not in crisis treatment, the standard route remains open.
What Happens on Day 61 and After
When a standard moratorium ends, the protections end with it. Creditors can resume contact, add interest and charges again, and start or carry on legal proceedings, unless you have entered an alternative debt solution such as a DRO or an IVA by then.
The intention is that day 61 finds you with a plan rather than back where you started. That plan might be a repayment arrangement, a formal debt solution or, if your position has improved, simply returning to regular payments. If a creditor broke the rules during the moratorium, or you believe a loan should never have been granted, our guide to complaining about a payday loan sets out how to take a case to the lender and, if needed, to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
If Breathing Space sounds like it could give you room to sort things out, the next step is to find a free debt adviser through MoneyHelper and book a confidential conversation, taking a list of everything you owe with you.
Your questions answered
Q: Can I apply for Breathing Space myself?
A: No. You must go through a debt adviser, who checks that you are eligible and submits the application to the Insolvency Service on your behalf. Free advisers can be found through MoneyHelper.
Q: Does Breathing Space cover all of my debts?
A: No. Some debts never qualify, with student loans and fines from criminal convictions among the examples. Your debt adviser will identify which of your debts can be included.
Q: What happens if I miss a payment during Breathing Space?
A: The scheme is not a payment holiday, so you should keep paying ongoing liabilities such as rent and utility bills. The moratorium may be cancelled if you do not meet them.
Q: How often can I use the standard scheme?
A: Once every 12 months. The mental health crisis version has no such limit and can be used whenever someone is receiving crisis treatment.
This guide is general information, not financial advice. Late repayment can cause you serious money problems. For help, go to moneyhelper.org.uk. We don’t arrange loans or work with lenders. Before borrowing, check the lender is authorised on the FCA register, and consider free debt advice from MoneyHelper, StepChange, National Debtline or Citizens Advice.