Breathing Space freezes interest and enforcement for 60 days, and you cannot apply for it yourself
If creditors are chasing you and you need the pressure to stop while you work out what to do, here is the next step. You cannot apply for Breathing Space directly. You have to go through a debt adviser, who applies on your behalf, and it is free. MoneyHelper’s debt advice locator will find one, and you can get advice online, by phone or in person.
Once it starts, interest and charges on the debts included stop, enforcement action stops, and creditors must stop contacting you about those debts. It lasts up to 60 days.
A moratorium is the legal term for that pause. A creditor is anyone you owe money to. Enforcement action means anything from a default notice to bailiffs or a court claim.
What the scheme is, precisely
Breathing Space is properly called the Debt Respite Scheme. It operates under The Debt Respite Scheme (Breathing Space Moratorium and Mental Health Crisis Moratorium) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020, and it comes in two forms.
| Standard breathing space | Mental health crisis breathing space | |
|---|---|---|
| How long | Up to 60 days | The length of the crisis treatment, plus 30 days |
| Who applies | You, through a debt adviser | You, or someone on your behalf if you cannot |
| Used in the last 12 months | You cannot apply again | The 12-month rule does not apply |
| Midway review | Between day 25 and day 35 | Not applicable |
Source: GOV.UK Breathing Space guidance and the 2020 Regulations.
The mental health version is the more generous of the two and the less used. It runs for as long as the crisis treatment lasts, however long that is, plus thirty days, and the once-a-year limit does not apply.
What creditors must stop doing
Three things, for every debt included in the moratorium.
- Stop charging interest, fees, penalties and charges. Not defer them. They cannot be applied for the period of the breathing space.
- Stop all enforcement action. No bailiffs, no court proceedings to recover the debt, no seizing assets.
- Stop contacting you about the debt. There are narrow exceptions where a communication is required by the Consumer Credit Act, and creditors can respond if you contact them.
Which debts are in, and which are not
Included: credit cards, personal loans, overdrafts, utility arrears, mortgage arrears, rent arrears, and money owed to government such as tax and benefit overpayments.
Excluded: secured debt payments falling due after the breathing space starts, debts arising from fraud, court-imposed fines, child maintenance, student loans, personal injury damages, and advance Universal Credit payments.
That exclusion list matters more than it looks. If most of what you owe is a student loan, a court fine and child maintenance, a breathing space will not quieten much. It is worth going through the list with the adviser before applying, because you only get one in twelve months.
The obligation people miss
You still have to pay your ongoing bills. A breathing space pauses interest, charges and enforcement. It does not pause your rent, your mortgage payment, your council tax for the current year or your energy bills. Those continue to fall due and you are expected to keep paying them.
It is also not a write-off. The debts survive the sixty days in full. What the scheme buys is time without the meter running and without the letters arriving, so you can get advice and choose a longer-term option.
The checkpoint at day 25 to 35
A debt adviser must carry out a midway review between day 25 and day 35 of a standard breathing space. The review checks that you are still eligible and still meeting your obligations, including keeping up with ongoing payments and engaging with the adviser.
If you are not, the breathing space can be cancelled early. This is the most common way people lose the protection, and it is avoidable: keep the appointment, answer the calls, and tell the adviser if your circumstances have changed.
What the numbers say about who is using it
The Insolvency Service’s monthly statistics for July 2026, published on 18 August 2026, record 5,248 Breathing Space registrations, 38% fewer than in July 2025.
In the same month, 11,926 people entered a formal insolvency, 14% more than a year earlier: 664 bankruptcies, 3,820 debt relief orders and 7,442 individual voluntary arrangements.
Breathing Space use falling by more than a third while formal insolvencies rise by an eighth is a striking pair of numbers. It does not prove the scheme is failing, and there are reasons it might fall that have nothing to do with need. But it does suggest a lot of people are arriving at a formal insolvency without having used the free pause that sits in front of it.
What to do next, in order
- Find a debt adviser through the MoneyHelper locator. Free advice is available from several national charities. Some commercial firms charge, and you do not need to pay.
- List everything you owe, including the debts on the excluded list, so the adviser can see the whole picture.
- Check the eligibility conditions. You cannot use it if you are in a DRO, an IVA, an interim order or undischarged bankruptcy, are already in a breathing space, or have had one in the last 12 months.
- Ask specifically about the mental health crisis route if you are receiving crisis treatment, because the rules are different and better.
- Keep paying what you can on ongoing bills, and keep the midway review appointment.
The counterweight
Sixty days is short. If your problem is that your income does not cover your outgoings, a pause does not fix it, and arriving at day 60 with no plan puts you back where you started having used up your one attempt for the year. Breathing Space works when there is something to do with the time: a benefit to claim, an income to restore, a formal option to set up, a creditor to negotiate with. Used as a way of not opening the post for two months, it is wasted.
Frequently asked questions
Can I apply for Breathing Space myself? No. A debt adviser has to apply on your behalf. It is free and you can find one through MoneyHelper.
How long does it last? Up to 60 days for a standard breathing space. A mental health crisis breathing space lasts for the length of the crisis treatment plus 30 days.
Does it stop interest? Yes, on the debts included. Creditors cannot apply interest, fees, penalties or charges during it.
Will it damage my credit file? A breathing space is recorded on a private register that creditors can see, and defaults or arrears already on your file remain. It is not the same as an insolvency, which is a public record.
Updated on 11 September 2026.
Sources
- GOV.UK, options for paying off your debts: Breathing Space
- GOV.UK, Debt Respite Scheme (Breathing Space) guidance for creditors
- Insolvency Service, individual insolvencies July 2026, published 18 August 2026
- The Debt Respite Scheme (Breathing Space Moratorium and Mental Health Crisis Moratorium) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020
- MoneyHelper, debt advice locator
This article explains how the scheme works. It is not debt advice, and free regulated debt advice is available from MoneyHelper and several national charities.…
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