Breathing Space: Pausing Debt Action While You Get Advice
Breathing Space, the Debt Respite Scheme, pauses most action from your creditors while you get debt advice. You cannot apply yourself: a debt adviser applies for you. If you need to write to a creditor, we print your letter and post it for you by Royal Mail.
Writing to a creditor? Send your letter by Royal Mail Tracked 24, from £8.99, so you can prove the date it arrived.
From £2.49 including printing and postage
- No printer or Post Office trip
- See the finished letter before you pay
- Order by 2.30pm for same-day posting
Quick Answer
- Standard Breathing Space
- Up to 60 days
- Mental health crisis
- Treatment plus 30 days
- Who applies
- A debt adviser
- Midway review
- Day 25 to day 35
- Where it applies
- England and Wales
This is general information, not debt advice. A free debt adviser can tell you if Breathing Space is right for you.
Where to Get Free Debt Advice
Only a debt adviser can apply for Breathing Space, and these services give debt advice for free. They can check if you qualify and apply for you.
StepChange Debt Charity
Free debt advice, including Breathing Space if you qualify.
Phone 0800 138 1111or online at stepchange.orgOpen Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm, and Saturday 9am to 2pm.
National Debtline
Free debt advice by phone and online.
Phone 0808 808 4000or online at nationaldebtline.orgOpen Monday to Friday 9am to 8pm, and Saturday 9:30am to 1pm.
Citizens Advice
Free advice on debt and money, by phone or at a local office.
Adviceline 0800 144 8848in EnglandUsually open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm. Citizens Advice Wales lists its own number on its website.
Writing to a Creditor
You can write to a creditor to say you are getting debt advice and ask for time. Once your Breathing Space starts, your creditors are told about it for you.
Your creditor or debt collector
Asking for time while you get debt advice.
The address on its latestletter to youInclude your account or reference number. Keep a copy of your letter.
Write your letterA bailiff firm
If bailiffs have been sent to collect a debt.
The address on thebailiff firm's noticeBreathing Space pauses most bailiff action on the debts it covers. Tell your debt adviser if a bailiff contacts you.
Read our bailiff letter guideChecked against GOV.UK, legislation.gov.uk, the Insolvency Service and MoneyHelper on 20 October 2026.
Why Send It With PostRight
Proof It Arrived
Choose Tracked 24 and you can see when your letter was delivered, with a photo on delivery. Useful when a deadline or reply time counts from the day it arrives.
No Printer, Envelope or Stamp
Type your letter or upload a PDF on any device. We print it, put it in the envelope and post it.
Posted Today
Order by 2.30pm on a working day and we post it the same day by Royal Mail.
How It Works
- 1Write your letterPress Write Your Letter and add your creditor's address from its latest letter. Include your account or reference number.
- 2Check itRead your letter on screen before you pay. Keep it short and stick to the facts.
- 3We print it and post itOrder by 2.30pm on a working day and we post it the same day by Royal Mail. Choose a tracked service for a record of when it arrived.
What Breathing Space Is
Breathing Space is the Debt Respite Scheme for England and Wales. It started on 4 May 2021 and gives you legal protection from your creditors while you get debt advice.
In 2025, 89,130 Breathing Spaces were registered, the highest yearly total since the scheme began.
What It Pauses
During a Breathing Space, creditors must stop contacting you to ask for payment, pause most enforcement action and freeze most interest, fees and charges on the debts it covers. Action a creditor takes that breaks these rules is void.
Bailiffs cannot enforce a writ or warrant until the Breathing Space ends, and the court will not issue a new money claim against you for the debt during it.
The Two Kinds of Breathing Space
A standard Breathing Space lasts up to 60 days. You can have one once in any 12 months, and your debt adviser reviews it between day 25 and day 35.
A mental health crisis Breathing Space is for people getting crisis treatment. It lasts as long as the treatment, plus 30 days, and needs evidence from an Approved Mental Health Professional. There is no limit on how often you can have one.
Who Can Get It
To get a standard Breathing Space, you must live in England or Wales and have a debt you cannot pay. You cannot get one if you are in a Debt Relief Order, an Individual Voluntary Arrangement or bankruptcy, or if you have had a standard Breathing Space in the last 12 months.
Only a debt adviser authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority, or a council that gives debt advice, can apply for you. MoneyHelper warns that anyone who contacts you offering to arrange it for a fee is likely to be a scam.
What You Still Need to Pay
Breathing Space is not a payment holiday. GOV.UK says you need to keep paying ongoing costs if you can, such as your rent or mortgage, council tax, energy and water bills, insurance and tax. If you do not, your debt adviser may cancel your Breathing Space.
Debts It Does Not Cover
Some debts are not covered, including student loans, court fines, child maintenance, social fund loans, Universal Credit advances and debts from fraud. For a mortgage or other secured debt, only the arrears are covered.
If a Creditor Still Contacts You
Your creditors are told about your Breathing Space through the Insolvency Service. The register is not public. If a creditor still asks you to pay, tell your debt adviser.
More Ways to Send
Frequently Asked Questions
A scheme in England and Wales that pauses most creditor action, interest and charges while you get debt advice, for up to 60 days, or longer during a mental health crisis. Its official name is the Debt Respite Scheme.
Need to write to a creditor?
Write or upload your letter, choose your service at checkout, and we print it and post it by Royal Mail.