Breathing Space: how the debt respite scheme works

What Breathing Space is

Breathing Space is the everyday name for the Debt Respite Scheme. It gives someone in problem debt legal protection from their creditors while they get debt advice and work out what to do next.

There are two types. A standard breathing space is open to anyone with problem debt who meets the conditions. A mental health crisis breathing space is only for someone receiving mental health crisis treatment, and it has some stronger protections.

The scheme is set out in law, in the Debt Respite Scheme (Breathing Space Moratorium and Mental Health Crisis Moratorium) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020. It has been running since 4 May 2021.

What creditors must stop doing

Once a creditor is told that one of your debts is in a breathing space, it must apply the protections until the breathing space ends. Any agent collecting the debt for it, such as a debt collection agency, must be told too.

• No enforcement action on the debt, by the creditor or any agent it uses.
• No contact asking you to repay that debt, unless a court has given permission.
• No interest, fees, penalties or charges that you have to pay for the time the breathing space lasts.
• If a creditor’s systems keep adding interest or charges anyway, you must not be asked to pay them, either during or after the breathing space.

Creditors can still write to you to explain how they will deal with your breathing space. If a creditor does not apply the protections, the government guidance says any action it takes is null and void.

What you still need to pay

Breathing Space is not a payment holiday. GOV.UK says you will still need to make your debt repayments, and creditors can keep accepting payments, including existing direct debits. What changes is that the debt cannot grow with new interest or charges, and creditors cannot chase you for it.

During a standard breathing space, some bills count as ongoing liabilities. You need to keep paying these if you can:

• your mortgage or rent on the home you live in (arrears from before the breathing space started are covered by it);
• insurance;
• taxes, duties and National Insurance contributions;
• council tax and other local taxes or rates;
• water, sewerage, electricity, gas, heating oil or solid fuel bills.

Your debt adviser must carry out a midway review between day 25 and day 35 of a standard breathing space. If you have not kept up with ongoing liabilities when you could afford to, the adviser can cancel the breathing space. They must consider whether that would be unfair or unreasonable given your circumstances. The ongoing liabilities rule and the midway review do not apply in a mental health crisis breathing space.

If you are not sure which bills come first, our guide to which bills to pay first explains how priority debts work.

Which debts it covers

Most personal debts can be included. The government’s guidance gives these examples:

• credit cards and store cards
• personal loans and payday loans
• overdrafts
• utility bill arrears
• mortgage or rent arrears
• tax and benefit debts owed to the government, unless they are on the excluded list

Some debts cannot be included. These include secured debts such as mortgages, hire purchase and conditional sale agreements (only the arrears at the date you apply can be covered), court fines, child maintenance, student loans, crisis or budgeting loans from the social fund, advance payments of Universal Credit and debts from fraud.

A joint debt can be included even if only one of you applies. The other person is protected from enforcement on that debt, but can still be charged interest and fees. If you have a guarantor loan, the protections do not extend to your guarantor, who would need to apply for their own breathing space.

New debts you take on during a breathing space are not generally covered. Tell your adviser about every debt you know of, with the creditor’s contact details, so nothing is missed.

Who can get a standard breathing space

Your debt adviser must check that you:

• are an individual and owe at least one qualifying debt;
• live or usually reside in England or Wales;
• do not have a debt relief order (DRO), an individual voluntary arrangement (IVA) or an interim order, and are not an undischarged bankrupt;
• are not already in a breathing space, and have not had a standard breathing space in the last 12 months.

The adviser must also be satisfied that you cannot, or are unlikely to be able to, repay some or all of your debt, and that a breathing space is right for you. It might not be, for example, if some budgeting help would let you pay, or if you can move straight into a longer-term debt solution.

Breathing Space does not cover Scotland or Northern Ireland. Scotland has its own moratorium scheme, run by Accountant in Bankruptcy, and a debt adviser there can explain how it works. In Northern Ireland, Advice NI gives free debt advice.

How to apply

1. Talk to a free debt adviser Only a debt adviser can apply. That means an adviser authorised by the FCA to give debt counselling, or a local authority that gives debt advice to its residents. You can find a free adviser through MoneyHelper, online, by phone or in person.
2. Give them your details The adviser needs your full name, date of birth, home address and details of each debt and who you owe it to. If showing your address could put you or someone you live with at risk of violence, you can ask for it to be withheld from creditors.
3. The adviser applies for you If a breathing space is the right thing for you, the adviser submits the application. It is free to apply. Some debt advisers charge a fee, but the free services do not.
4. Your breathing space starts It starts the day after your details go on the Insolvency Service’s breathing space register. This register is private, not public. Your creditors are sent a notice telling them the start date.
5. Use the time to make a plan Stay in touch with your adviser. They will help you look at longer-term options, such as a debt management plan, a debt relief order or an IVA, before the breathing space ends.

Once your application has been made, you cannot ask for it to be withdrawn, and once a standard breathing space has started you cannot ask for it to be cancelled.

Mental health crisis breathing space

If you are receiving mental health crisis treatment, you may be able to get a mental health crisis breathing space. It lasts for as long as your treatment, plus another 30 days, however long the treatment goes on.

You do not have to speak to a debt adviser yourself. An Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP) can confirm that you are receiving crisis treatment, and a debt adviser can use that to start it. Your carer, care co-ordinator, mental health nurse, social worker, an independent mental health or mental capacity advocate, or your representative can also apply to a debt adviser for you.

Having a standard breathing space in the last 12 months does not stop you getting a mental health crisis breathing space, and there is no limit to how many you can have.

When the breathing space ends

Your creditors are told the date it ended. From then on they can start adding interest, fees and charges again, but only from the end date. They cannot backdate interest or charges for the time the breathing space lasted unless a court allows it.

They can also start contacting you and taking action to recover the debt again, unless you have moved into a debt solution such as a debt management plan or a debt relief order. That is why the time is best spent working out a plan with your adviser.

Starting a breathing space should not, by itself, put a mark on your credit file, and there should be no flag left on your file once it has finished. Lenders that report whether payments are made can keep doing so, which is another reason to keep paying what you can.

Common questions

Can I apply for Breathing Space myself?

No. A debt adviser has to apply for you. Free debt advice services such as StepChange, National Debtline and Citizens Advice can do this, and you can find others through MoneyHelper.

Does Breathing Space cost anything?

It is free to apply. GOV.UK says some debt advisers may charge a fee, so use a free adviser. You never need to pay for debt advice.

Do I have to keep paying my debts during Breathing Space?

You should keep paying if you can. Creditors cannot add interest or charges or chase you, but the debt is still owed. In a standard breathing space you also need to keep paying ongoing bills like rent, mortgage, council tax and energy, or the adviser may cancel it.

How often can I get Breathing Space?

You can have one standard breathing space in any 12 months. There is no limit on mental health crisis breathing spaces.

Will my creditors know?

Yes. Each creditor the adviser knows about is sent a notice with the start date, and must pass it on to any agent collecting the debt. The register of people in a breathing space is private, not public.

Sources

Every fact in this page was checked against these official sources on 5 November 2026.

1. Options for dealing with your debts: Breathing Space (Debt Respite Scheme) GOV.UK
2. Debt Respite Scheme (Breathing Space) guidance for creditors GOV.UK (Insolvency Service)
3. The Debt Respite Scheme (Breathing Space Moratorium and Mental Health Crisis Moratorium) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020, regulation 26 legislation.gov.uk
4. Moratorium Accountant in Bankruptcy

Written and fact-checked by the PiggyBank editorial team. Last reviewed 5 November 2026. This guide is general information, not financial advice. How we write and check our guides.