What is Breathing Space?
Breathing Space (also known as the Debt Respite Scheme) is run by the Government for people in England and Wales. It gives people the opportunity to get debt advice, and grant temporary protection from most creditors for 60 days for certain debts.
During this 60-day period, creditors:
can’t contact you about your qualifying debts
must stop interest, fees and charges on qualifying debts
can’t take enforcement action to recover your qualifying debts
Breathing Space isn’t a ‘payment holiday’. This means that you still have to repay your debts, rent or mortgage, if you’re able to.
Breathing Space eligibility
To be eligible for the Breathing Space scheme, you must:
live in either England or Wales
owe a qualifying debt to a creditor
not have used standard Breathing Space in the last twelve months
not have an undischarged bankruptcy
not have a Debt Relief Order (DRO)
not have an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA)
not have an interim order (a court order that stops creditor action until the outcome of a creditors’ meeting has been made)
It’s good to remember that although Breathing Space aims to give you time to get debt advice, a debt advisor or court can cancel the standard Breathing Space midway through. This can happen if your circumstances change during the Breathing Space — for example, if you come into some money and can repay all your debts. But it can also happen if you don’t continue paying your ongoing bills during the Breathing Space. A debt advisor can let you know if the scheme is a potential option for you and your financial situation.
How to apply for Breathing Space
Applications for a Breathing Space must be made by a debt advisor. Once they’ve established that you’re unable to repay your debts, they’ll prepare an application for you and enter your details onto the Breathing Space portal, which is managed by the Insolvency Service. The Insolvency Service will then make your creditors aware that you are now in a Breathing Space.
When a Breathing Space period ends, you’ll be sent a notification telling you this. If it was cancelled by a debt advisor or the court, it’ll also include the reason why it’s ended.
What is the Mental Health Crisis Breathing Space scheme?
The Mental Health Crisis Breathing Space scheme is slightly different to standard Breathing Space, as it gives you more protection. If you’re going through mental health crisis treatment, this scheme will give you protection from certain creditors for the entire length of your treatment, plus an extra 30 days. This means that you won’t have to get debt advice first.
How to apply for the Mental Health Crisis Breathing Space scheme
To apply for this scheme, an Approved Mental Health Professional will certify that you’re receiving treatment, and a debt advisor can use this evidence in your application. Unlike the standard Breathing Space scheme, you don’t have to make an application for a Mental Health Crisis Breathing Space through a debt advisor. You can apply yourself if you want to, or an application can be made on your behalf by any of the following:
a debt advisor
a carer or other representative
independent mental health advocates
mental health nurses
Approved Mental Health Professionals
social workers
care coordinators
Answering your Breathing Space questions
Most debts are likely to qualify. These include:
pay day loans
personal loans
credit cards
utility bill arrears
store cards
mortgage or rent arrears
overdrafts
Debts that are excluded include:
debts caused by fraud
student loans
Universal Credit advance payments
damages to pay for a personal injury for someone else
a confiscation order (a convicted defendant required to pay money to HMCTS)
debts that relate to a business (not personal debts)
child maintenance under an order made in family court proceedings
Joint debts can be included in the Breathing Space scheme, even if there’s only one person applying. This means that if a joint debt qualifies for the scheme, both people are protected from enforcement action.
Yes, Breathing Space can stop lenders from evicting you for debts that qualify under the scheme.
Yes, Breathing Space does stop bailiffs from taking action for qualifying debts on the scheme. This means that they won’t be able to visit you, contact you, obtain a warrant or start any possession proceedings.
No, Breathing Space doesn’t directly affect your credit score, but any missed debt payments will still be recorded on your credit file. This is why it’s important to try to continue repaying your debts during this time if you can.
No, you can only apply for standard Breathing Space through CAP.
Yes, it’s free to apply for Breathing Space. However, some debt advisors may charge you a fee. At CAP, we don’t charge you a penny to use our services. Find debt support near you below.
Christians Against Poverty (CAP) offers a totally free, accredited debt help service. We’ll equip you to take control of your finances and support you all the way through to becoming debt free. Find support below.
