Quick answer
Does Breathing Space stop bailiff enforcement?
Yes. Once a qualifying debt enters Breathing Space, the creditor and any enforcement agent acting for it must pause most enforcement action. This includes visits, taking control of goods, obtaining or enforcing warrants and writs, and most action to enforce court orders.
Up to 60 days
The period includes a statutory midway review between days 25 and 35.
Treatment plus 30 days
The protection lasts throughout qualifying crisis treatment and for another 30 days.
Only notified qualifying debts
Excluded, new or unidentified debts are not protected until the legal conditions are met.
The Debt Respite Scheme
What is Breathing Space?
Breathing Space is a statutory debt moratorium for people in England and Wales who need time to obtain debt advice and put an appropriate solution in place.
It does not write off debt or create a permanent repayment plan. It temporarily restricts creditor contact, enforcement, interest and charges for qualifying debts.
Only an authorised debt adviser or a local authority providing debt advice can start the protection through the Insolvency Service electronic system.
Debt advice
An authorised adviser assesses eligibility, the debts and whether the moratorium is appropriate.
Register entry
The adviser enters the debtor and qualifying debts onto the private Breathing Space register.
Creditor notification
The Insolvency Service notifies creditors and known appointed agents of the protected debts.
Long-term solution
The protected period should be used to complete debt advice and progress a sustainable solution.
The legal start date matters
When does Breathing Space stop the bailiff?
Asking for debt advice
No legal protection exists merely because an appointment has been booked.
Eligibility assessment
The adviser checks the person's circumstances, qualifying debts and whether the protection is appropriate.
Details entered on the register
The Breathing Space normally starts the following day.
Creditor or agent notified
It must apply the protections from the effective notification date and stop appointed agents.
The statutory enforcement pause
What must creditors and bailiffs stop doing?
Action that must normally pause
- Requesting payment of a protected debt
- Visiting a home or business to take goods
- Clamping or taking control of a vehicle
- Removing goods for the first time
- Obtaining or enforcing a warrant or writ
- Seeking a liability order
- Starting or continuing enforcement proceedings
- Adding most interest, charges, penalties or fees
Contact that may still be allowed
- Required statutory statements or notices
- Information about how the protection is being applied
- Responses to a complaint or query from the debtor
- Contact about excluded or new debts
- Contact about current ongoing liabilities
- Action specifically permitted by a court
Match the rule to the enforcement stage
Will Breathing Space stop the action in your case?
| Situation | Breathing Space effect | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Advice requested but not registered | No statutory protection | Request a voluntary hold and give the adviser every reference urgently. |
| Qualifying debt entered and creditor notified | Enforcement must pause | Send the notification to the enforcement company if a visit is still scheduled. |
| Controlled goods agreement exists | No enforcement, but payments should continue | Maintain the agreement and ask the adviser to confirm the extended deadline. |
| Goods removed before the start | Sale may continue | Obtain urgent advice about ownership, exemptions and the sale timetable. |
| Excluded court fine | Not protected | Deal with the court or enforcement company separately. |
| Protection has ended | Enforcement can restart | Make sure the long-term debt solution is ready before the end date. |
Most personal debts can qualify
Which debts can enter Breathing Space?
Common qualifying debts
- Credit cards and store cards
- Personal, payday and guarantor loans
- Overdrafts
- Utility-bill arrears
- Rent and mortgage arrears existing at the start
- Many tax and benefit debts
- Council Tax arrears that have fallen due
- Parking and civil penalty charge notices
- County Court and High Court civil judgment debts
Details the adviser needs
- Original creditor
- Debt and enforcement reference
- Current balance and fees
- Court, warrant or writ details
- Appointed enforcement company
- Visit, clamp or removal dates
- Any joint debtor or guarantor
- Any controlled goods agreement
Liabilities the scheme does not protect
Which debts are excluded from Breathing Space?
Excluded debts and liabilities
- Court fines imposed for an offence
- Interest and penalties attached to those fines
- Confiscation orders
- Child maintenance and family-court obligations
- Social Fund crisis or budgeting loans
- Student loans
- Universal Credit advance payments
- Fraud and fraudulent-breach-of-trust debts
- Certain damages for death or personal injury
Debts often confused with exclusions
- Civil parking penalty charge notices can qualify
- Existing rent arrears can qualify
- Existing mortgage arrears can qualify
- Many tax debts can qualify
- Many benefit overpayments can qualify
- Civil County Court judgments can qualify
- High Court civil judgment debts can qualify
Protection pauses enforcement but does not erase the agreement
Breathing Space and controlled goods agreements
A controlled goods agreement records goods that an enforcement agent has already taken into legal control while allowing them to remain at the property under a repayment plan.
During Breathing Space, the agent cannot enforce the warrant, remove the goods or treat the agreement as breached merely because the original timetable passes.
The debtor should continue making agreed payments as they fall due. Official guidance states that a time limit in the repayment plan is extended until eight weeks after the moratorium ends.
The major physical-removal exception
What if bailiffs removed goods before Breathing Space?
If an enforcement agent physically removed goods and secured them elsewhere before the moratorium began, the goods may still be sold during Breathing Space.
The sale costs can be deducted from the proceeds. However, storage fees that accrue during the Breathing Space period cannot be charged during or after the moratorium.
Ownership, exempt-goods rules, valuation, notice and sale procedure can still be challenged where appropriate.
Liability orders and current-year instalments
Can Breathing Space stop Council Tax bailiffs?
Council Tax arrears that have fallen due can qualify. If a reminder notice has made the remaining annual balance due, that remaining liability can also enter Breathing Space.
Once notified, the council must stop qualifying recovery and tell its enforcement company to pause visits, taking control of goods and other action.
Current Council Tax that falls due during standard Breathing Space is an ongoing liability and should still be paid where possible.
Can be protected
Include the council, liability-order reference, enforcement company and current balance.
The remaining annual balance can qualify
Give the adviser the reminder notice so the correct liability is entered.
Continue paying current Council Tax
Failure to pay ongoing liabilities can put a standard Breathing Space at risk.
PCNs, ULEZ and civil traffic penalties
Can Breathing Space stop parking-fine bailiffs?
Civil penalty charge notices, including many parking, congestion and road-user charging penalties, can qualify for Breathing Space.
The issuing authority must tell its enforcement company to stop enforcement after receiving notification.
Breathing Space does not decide whether the penalty or warrant is valid. A Traffic Enforcement Centre statement may still be needed where service or liability is disputed.
Criminal fines remain enforceable
Does Breathing Space stop court-fine bailiffs?
Excluded from protection
- Magistrates’ court fines
- Criminal fines
- Interest and penalties attached to those fines
- Confiscation orders
- Victim surcharges
- Related criminal-court enforcement
Civil debts that may qualify
- Parking penalty charge notices
- Congestion and ULEZ penalties
- Civil County Court judgments
- High Court civil judgments
- Council Tax liability-order debts
- Many tax and benefit debts
Court and enforcement responsibilities
County Court bailiffs and High Court enforcement officers
| Action | During Breathing Space | Responsibility |
|---|---|---|
| County Court warrant of control | Enforcement pauses | The creditor notifies the court, and the court tells its bailiff. |
| High Court writ of control | Enforcement pauses | The creditor must notify the instructed HCEO promptly. |
| New warrant, writ or liability order | Must not be obtained | The creditor and court apply the statutory restriction. |
| Ordinary claim before judgment | May continue to judgment | Enforcement of the judgment must then pause. |
| Enforcement hearing | Adjourned | For standard protection, it is normally listed no earlier than 14 days after the end. |
Housing enforcement can be paused
Can Breathing Space stop an eviction?
Where possession enforcement relates to a qualifying Breathing Space debt, court enforcement and a scheduled eviction are suspended during the moratorium.
Official HMCTS guidance says a standard-Breathing-Space eviction is moved to no earlier than 14 days after the protection ends.
Breathing Space does not write off rent or mortgage arrears and ongoing housing payments remain important. Specialist housing advice should be obtained immediately.
Different deduction rules apply
Attachment of earnings and benefit deductions
| Deduction | Breathing Space treatment | Important detail |
|---|---|---|
| Existing attachment of earnings | May continue | Official creditor guidance excludes an order made before the start from the general enforcement prohibition. |
| New attachment application | Must not proceed | A creditor must not obtain new enforcement for a protected debt without court permission. |
| Third-party benefit deduction | Normally stops | The creditor must notify DWP where required. |
| Existing Universal Credit deduction | Different rule | Existing Universal Credit deductions are not included in the same Breathing Space stop. |
The balance must not worsen during protection
What happens to interest, charges and bailiff fees?
Creditors must stop most interest, fees, penalties and charges on a qualifying Breathing Space debt.
Where a computer system continues showing accruals, the debtor cannot be required to pay those amounts during or after the moratorium.
If Breathing Space is later cancelled or ends, the creditor cannot backdate protected-period charges unless a court gives permission.
Breathing Space is not a payment holiday
Which ongoing bills should still be paid?
Ongoing liabilities during standard Breathing Space
- Current mortgage on the main home
- Current rent on the main home
- Insurance payments
- Taxes, duties and National Insurance
- Current Council Tax and local rates
- Water and sewerage
- Gas, electricity and heating fuel
Why this matters
- New arrears may not be protected
- Essential services and housing can be put at risk
- The adviser checks obligations at the midway review
- Standard protection can be cancelled in some cases
- The long-term budget must remain sustainable
- Priority payments come before ordinary unsecured debts
Joint debts receive unusual shared protection
Joint debtors and guarantors
A qualifying joint debt can be entered even where only one joint debtor receives Breathing Space.
The creditor must stop enforcement against the other jointly liable person for that particular debt. It can still charge the other person interest or fees and can pursue debts in their sole name.
A guarantor does not receive the same automatic protection. The guarantor needs their own Breathing Space if eligible.
Protection is debt-specific
What if another bailiff debt is found later?
A Breathing Space can start with only one qualifying debt. The adviser should add every other qualifying debt identified during the moratorium.
The newly identified creditor becomes bound from the date it receives or is treated as receiving the notification—not automatically from the original start date.
Send every new letter, text, email, warrant and enforcement reference to the debt adviser immediately.
The adviser decides whether it is appropriate
Who can qualify for standard Breathing Space?
| Requirement | General position | Important detail |
|---|---|---|
| Applicant | An individual | The person must live or usually reside in England or Wales. |
| Debt | At least one qualifying debt | The debt and creditor must be entered by the adviser. |
| Financial position | Unable or unlikely to repay some or all debt | The adviser must also decide the protection is appropriate. |
| Existing insolvency | Cannot already be in IVA, DRO, interim order or undischarged bankruptcy | The adviser checks the Individual Insolvency Register where relevant. |
| Previous standard protection | None in previous 12 months | This annual limit does not apply in the same way to Mental Health Crisis Breathing Space. |
You cannot enter yourself directly
How do you apply for Breathing Space?
Contact an authorised debt adviser
Use an FCA-authorised debt-advice service or a local authority that provides debt advice.
Explain the urgency
Give the visit date, clamp, court hearing, eviction or removal deadline immediately.
List every debt
Include creditors, courts, councils, enforcement companies and joint debts.
Complete the eligibility check
The adviser decides whether Breathing Space is necessary and appropriate.
Register the protection
The adviser submits the details through the Insolvency Service system.
Progress a debt solution
Use the protected period to complete advice and implement the appropriate next step.
Standard protection is reviewed
What happens at the midway review?
The debt adviser must review a standard Breathing Space between days 25 and 35.
The adviser checks whether it remains appropriate, whether the debtor has stayed in contact, provided information and paid ongoing liabilities where financially able.
The adviser can cancel protection for some or all debts where statutory grounds are met, although personal circumstances and fairness must be considered.
Longer protection during qualifying crisis treatment
Mental Health Crisis Breathing Space and bailiffs
Protection provided
- The same core enforcement pause
- The same freeze on most interest and charges
- Protection throughout crisis treatment
- A further 30 days after treatment ends
- No standard day-25-to-day-35 midway review
- No requirement for the patient to engage directly in debt advice
How it is accessed
- An Approved Mental Health Professional supplies evidence
- A debt adviser starts the moratorium
- A carer or representative can approach the adviser
- Treatment status is checked regularly
- A nominated point of contact engages with the adviser
- There is no one-standard-Breathing-Space-per-year limit
The protection is temporary
What happens when Breathing Space ends?
Creditors can normally restart
- Payment requests
- Bailiff visits
- Warrant or writ enforcement
- Court-enforcement applications
- Benefit recovery where permitted
- Interest and charges from the end date onward
What cannot be backdated
- Protected-period interest
- Protected-period fees
- Protected-period penalties
- Protected-period charges
- Storage fees prohibited during the moratorium
- Unless a court specifically allows backdating
What to do now
Immediate action plan
Check whether it has started
Obtain the start date and notification rather than relying on an advice appointment.
Match the protected debt
Confirm the creditor, debt, court and enforcement reference are included.
Send the notification
Email it to the creditor and enforcement company if urgent action is still scheduled.
Check controlled or removed goods
Identify any clamp, inventory, agreement, removal notice or auction date.
Keep ongoing bills current
Prioritise current housing, Council Tax, utilities, tax and insurance.
Complete the long-term solution
Use the protected period to progress the adviser’s recommended debt option.
Breathing Space enforcement-stop email
Related Bailiff Advice guides
Read the guide that matches your next step
Need a longer-term solution before Breathing Space ends?
Request a callback to review the bailiff stage, qualifying debts and whether an IVA may be suitable.
Frequently asked questions
Breathing Space and bailiffs FAQs
Yes. Once a qualifying debt enters Breathing Space and the creditor or enforcement agent is notified, most enforcement action must pause until the moratorium ends.
A standard Breathing Space normally lasts for up to 60 days, subject to a midway review between days 25 and 35.
It lasts for the period of qualifying mental health crisis treatment plus another 30 days, regardless of how long the treatment lasts.
No. Protection normally begins the day after the debt adviser enters the person and qualifying debts on the Breathing Space register.
Not to enforce a qualifying debt included in the moratorium. The creditor must tell appointed agents to stop visits, taking control of goods and other enforcement.
The creditor must notify the court. The court should then tell an instructed County Court bailiff to pause enforcement for the qualifying debt.
No, not for a qualifying debt in the moratorium. The creditor must notify the High Court enforcement officer and enforcement of the writ must pause.
A bailiff must not take control of goods, which includes beginning new enforcement against a vehicle, for a qualifying Breathing Space debt.
Yes. If goods were physically removed and secured elsewhere before Breathing Space began, they may still be sold. Storage fees that accrue during Breathing Space cannot be charged.
No. Enforcement must pause, but the debtor should continue payments under an existing controlled goods repayment plan as they fall due.
Official guidance says time limits within an existing controlled goods repayment plan are extended until eight weeks after the moratorium ends.
It can. Council Tax arrears already due can qualify. If a reminder notice has been served, the remaining liability for that financial year can qualify. Current ongoing Council Tax should still be paid.
Civil penalty charge notices such as parking tickets can qualify. Court fines imposed for an offence are excluded.
No. Liabilities to pay court fines for an offence, related interest and penalties are excluded from Breathing Space.
Yes, enforcement of a qualifying Breathing Space debt must pause. A court should not issue or continue an enforcement application without permission.
Where the eviction relates to a qualifying Breathing Space debt, scheduled enforcement is suspended. For a standard Breathing Space, official court guidance says it is moved to no earlier than 14 days after the moratorium ends.
The court must pause enforcement applications for a qualifying debt. The exact treatment depends on the stage reached and whether an interim charging order already exists.
An existing attachment of earnings order made before Breathing Space may continue. A creditor should not obtain a new enforcement order for a qualifying debt during the moratorium.
Most existing third-party deductions from benefits for a qualifying debt must stop, but existing Universal Credit deductions are treated differently and are not included in the same protection.
Most interest, fees, penalties and charges must stop for qualifying debts. Fees that accrue during the moratorium cannot later be backdated unless a court permits it.
No. It is temporary protection designed to allow debt advice and a longer-term solution. The underlying debt remains.
Breathing Space is not a payment holiday. Ongoing liabilities such as current rent, mortgage, Council Tax, taxes, insurance and utilities should be paid where possible. Voluntary payments to included debts can also continue.
Most personal debts can qualify, including credit cards, loans, overdrafts, utility arrears, rent or mortgage arrears, tax debts, benefit debts, Council Tax arrears and civil parking penalties.
Excluded debts include court fines for offences, confiscation orders, child maintenance and family-court obligations, student loans, Social Fund crisis or budgeting loans, Universal Credit advances, fraud debts and certain personal-injury damages.
Arrears that exist when Breathing Space starts can qualify, but the ongoing secured payment and any new arrears are not protected in the same way.
Yes. A qualifying joint debt can enter Breathing Space even if only one joint debtor applies, and enforcement protection applies to the other jointly liable person for that debt.
No. A guarantor loan can be included for the borrower, but the guarantor needs their own Breathing Space to receive protection.
Yes. A newly identified qualifying debt can be added, but protection for that debt starts when the creditor receives or is treated as receiving the notification.
Only an FCA-authorised debt advice provider offering debt counselling, or a local authority providing debt advice, can start it.
No. You must first speak to an authorised debt adviser, who decides whether you are eligible and whether Breathing Space is appropriate.
The scheme itself is free. Official guidance for advisers states that a client cannot be charged to enter Breathing Space.
The applicant must be an individual living or usually residing in England or Wales, owe a qualifying debt, be unable or unlikely to repay some or all debts, and not be in an IVA, DRO, interim order or undischarged bankruptcy.
A person normally cannot have another standard Breathing Space within 12 months. Mental Health Crisis Breathing Space is not subject to the same annual limit.
Between days 25 and 35, the debt adviser checks whether standard Breathing Space remains appropriate and whether the debtor is engaging and meeting relevant obligations.
Yes. After review, a debt adviser can cancel some or all protection where eligibility or obligations are not met, communication has broken down, or a debt solution covering all included debts has begun.
A creditor can request a review on limited grounds, including ineligibility, a non-qualifying debt, sufficient funds to pay or unfair prejudice. Strict time limits apply.
Creditors can restart enforcement from the point it stopped. They cannot backdate interest, fees or charges for the protected period unless a court allows it.
Yes. Breathing Space is intended to provide time to obtain advice and put an appropriate debt solution in place. It may end early once a solution covering all included debts begins.
No. My Debt Plan Ltd provides IVAs only and does not start Breathing Space. If an IVA is unsuitable, with the customer’s agreement they may be referred free of charge to a trusted affiliate for advice about another option.
No. This guide concerns the Debt Respite Scheme in England and Wales. Other parts of the UK use different debt-protection procedures.
Official sources
Sources used for this guide
Breathing Space guidance for creditors
Enforcement restrictions, debt categories, agents, fees, controlled goods and ongoing liabilities.
Insolvency ServiceBreathing Space guidance for advisers
Eligibility, applications, notification, midway reviews and Mental Health Crisis Breathing Space.
GOV.UKBreathing Space overview
Duration, application, cost and basic eligibility.
HM Courts & Tribunals ServiceCreditor responsibilities to the court
County Court bailiffs, HCEOs, hearings, writs, warrants, evictions and charging orders.
GOV.UKMental Health Crisis Breathing Space
Evidence, access routes, qualifying treatment and longer protection.
Legislation.gov.ukDebt Respite Scheme Regulations 2020
The statutory framework for standard and mental health crisis moratoriums.
GOV.UKFind free debt advice
Government-listed free and confidential debt-advice organisations.
Need help with bailiffs and wider debts?
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