What is Breathing Space and how do I get it?

Short answer

Sixty days of legal protection: creditors cannot chase you, add interest or charges, go to court, or send bailiffs for qualifying debts. You cannot apply yourself — a regulated debt adviser registers you, so start with StepChange, National Debtline or Citizens Advice.

Breathing Space — formally the Debt Respite Scheme — has run in England and Wales since May 2021. It is not a debt solution. It is a legally protected pause, designed to give you a realistic window to get advice and choose a route without enforcement escalating around you.

What the 60 days actually stop

Creditors cannot contact you to demand payment of qualifying debts.
Interest and charges are frozen on those debts.
No new County Court Judgments, attachment of earnings orders or charging orders on qualifying debts.
Bailiff action is paused, and enforcement already under way is put on hold.

Protection begins within three working days of your creditors being notified, and the scheme is administered by the Insolvency Service on a register creditors can check.

Eligibility, exclusions and applying

You must be an individual resident in England or Wales with debt you cannot repay, not already in a Breathing Space, not have had a standard one in the previous 12 months, and not be subject to an IVA, DRO or bankruptcy order. A separate Mental Health Crisis Breathing Space runs for the whole of your crisis treatment plus 30 days, with no limit on how often it can be used.

Some debts are excluded and carry on as normal: secured debts including your mortgage, student loans, criminal fines, family court obligations such as maintenance, confiscation orders, and debts run up through fraud. That matters practically — if you fall behind on the mortgage during Breathing Space your lender can still start possession proceedings, so keep paying secured debts and essential ongoing bills.

You cannot register yourself. Go to a regulated debt adviser — StepChange on 0800 138 1111, National Debtline on 0808 808 4000, Citizens Advice, or a local service funded by the Money and Pensions Service. They will assess your income, outgoings, assets and debts, register you if it is appropriate, and notify your creditors. Stay in contact during the 60 days, or the adviser can cancel the protection.

When it ends, frozen interest is not backdated but starts running again unless a formal solution is in place — which is exactly what the two months are for. Expect to leave with a debt management plan, an IVA, a debt relief order or a bankruptcy decision, not simply a later deadline.

Read the full guide: Breathing Space (Debt Respite Scheme)Covers eligibility, the process, deadlines, and next steps in depth.

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