Breathing Space, formally the Debt Respite Scheme, is a legal pause on debt collection introduced under the Debt Respite Scheme (Breathing Space) Regulations 2020. Once you are in it, a catalogue lender and any other included creditor must stop adding interest and charges, stop contacting you to demand payment, and stop taking or continuing enforcement action such as passing the debt to a debt collector or applying for a county court judgment. It does not cancel what you owe. It buys you 60 days without the debt getting bigger or the pressure to pay it building, so that you can work out what to do next.

The standard 60-day scheme

The standard breathing space lasts 60 days from the date it is granted. Most consumer debts qualify, including catalogue accounts, credit cards, loans and overdrafts, though a small number of debts (such as most fines, and some student loan and benefit overpayments) are excluded. During those 60 days you are expected to keep up with ongoing, current liabilities, things like your rent, mortgage and council tax, because the scheme protects you from the debts you already owe.

You can normally only use the standard scheme once in any 12-month period. It is granted after a debt adviser has assessed your situation and confirmed you meet the conditions.

The mental health crisis moratorium

A separate version of the scheme exists for anyone receiving treatment for a mental health crisis under the Mental Health Act. This moratorium is arranged by an approved mental health professional involved in that treatment, and it lasts for as long as the crisis treatment continues, plus 30 days afterwards. It can be used even if you have had a standard breathing space in the last 12 months. The same protections apply: no interest, no charges, no enforcement action from included creditors during the moratorium.

How to start the process

Breathing Space is entered through a debt adviser. A regulated adviser will look at your full financial position, confirm whether you qualify, and register the breathing space on your behalf if you do.

• Contact StepChange, National Debtline or Citizens Advice to arrange a debt advice session.
• The adviser assesses your debts and circumstances against the scheme's conditions.
• If eligible, the adviser registers the breathing space, which then applies automatically to your qualifying creditors.
• You use the 60 days to agree a longer-term plan for the debt with the adviser's help.

This page sets out how the scheme works in general terms. It is not financial advice, and whether Breathing Space is the right step for your own situation is a decision for a debt adviser or for MoneyHelper (moneyhelper.org.uk) to help you reach, not something this guide can tell you. If your catalogue account has already reached the point of missed payments or default notices, the mechanics of what happens next are set out in When a Catalogue Account Becomes a Problem.