Mental health crisis Breathing Space

Money can wait while someone gets well. This protection exists so that it can. It is designed to be arranged by the people around someone in crisis, such as a carer, a nurse or a social worker, as much as by the person themselves. If you are reading this on behalf of someone else, the steps below are written for you too.

What is a mental health crisis Breathing Space?

It is one of two forms of Breathing Space, the Debt Respite Scheme set up by regulations in force since 4 May 2021. While it lasts, for the debts included in it:

• creditors cannot contact the person to ask for payment
• they cannot add interest, fees or charges
• enforcement action is paused, including court action and bailiffs (enforcement agents)

It does not write off any debt, and it is not a long-term solution. It is a pause, so that nobody has to deal with creditors during treatment. It is used far less than the standard version: of 5,248 breathing spaces registered in July 2026, 150 were for a mental health crisis. So ask for it by name.

Who can get one?

A debt adviser must start one if they are satisfied that the person:

• lives, or usually lives, in England or Wales
• owes at least one debt that can be included
• is unable, or unlikely to be able, to pay some or all of their debts as they fall due
• is not in a debt relief order, an IVA or an interim order, and is not an undischarged bankrupt
• is not already in a breathing space
• is receiving mental health crisis treatment, shown by evidence from an Approved Mental Health Professional

The adviser must also think it is appropriate, and must check at least one credit file.

What counts as mental health crisis treatment?

The regulations cover people who are:

• detained in hospital for assessment or treatment under the Mental Health Act 1983 (including under a court or criminal justice section)
• taken to a place of safety by the police
• receiving any other crisis, emergency or acute care or treatment, in hospital or in the community, from a specialist mental health service, for a serious mental disorder

Specialist mental health services include crisis home treatment teams, liaison mental health teams and community mental health teams.

The 12-month rule that applies to the standard Breathing Space does not apply here. Someone can have a mental health crisis Breathing Space however recently they had any other breathing space.

What evidence is needed, and who can apply?

The Approved Mental Health Professional’s evidence

An Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP) is someone a local council has approved to carry out certain duties under the Mental Health Act 1983. A doctor cannot be an AMHP. The official guidance for debt advisers says other doctors, including GPs, cannot provide this evidence.

The AMHP completes a form called “Breathing Space Evidence of Mental Health Crisis Treatment”. It gives the person’s name, address and date of birth, the AMHP’s own details, a signed confirmation that the person is receiving crisis treatment, and the name of a nominated point of contact. The regulations say this must be an AMHP, a care co-ordinator or a mental health nurse, and the guidance adds that it should be someone with ongoing involvement in the person’s crisis care.

This is a different document from the Debt and Mental Health Evidence Form, which a GP or other professional can fill in to help creditors decide how to treat someone’s debts. Our guide to debt and your mental health explains that form.

Who can apply on someone’s behalf?

The application goes to a debt adviser, and it can be made by:

• the person themselves
• their carer
• an Approved Mental Health Professional
• a care co-ordinator
• a mental health nurse
• a social worker
• an independent mental health advocate or independent mental capacity advocate
• certain other representatives and professionals under the Mental Capacity Act 2005

Only a debt advice provider authorised by the FCA for debt counselling, or a council providing debt advice, can start a breathing space. It is free to apply through a free debt advice service, although GOV.UK’s Breathing Space guide warns that some advisers may charge. MoneyHelper’s debt advice locator lists free services online, by phone and near you.

How long does it last, and how does it end?

It lasts for as long as the crisis treatment, plus 30 days. There is no fixed maximum.

• There is no midway review with the person. Instead, the debt adviser asks the nominated point of contact whether treatment is continuing. The first check is made after the first 20 days and within the first 30, and then every 20 to 30 days.
• When treatment ends, the breathing space ends 30 days later.
• If the nominated point of contact does not reply to a check within 30 days, the breathing space ends. So it matters that the contact named on the form is someone who will respond.
• The person can ask the adviser to cancel it at any time, and the adviser must. The adviser must also cancel it if the evidence turns out to be inaccurate, misleading or fraudulent.

What does it cover, and what does it not?

Most debts can be included, including arrears on priority bills. These cannot: secured debts such as a mortgage (although arrears can be), fraud debts, court fines, child maintenance and other family court orders, Social Fund loans, student loans, personal injury damages and Universal Credit advances. Council tax can be included once it is in arrears.

The rules that apply to someone in a standard breathing space, such as keeping up ongoing payments, not taking credit of more than £500 and engaging with the adviser, are written for the standard version and not the mental health one. The guidance for advisers says people in a mental health crisis breathing space “are not required to engage with debt advice”.

But bills that fall due during it, such as rent, council tax for the current year and energy, are not paused. If someone can help keep those paid, or set up Direct Debits, it avoids new arrears building up. Creditors that report whether payments are made can keep doing so, so missed payments on accounts can still show on a credit file.

For more on the standard version, see Breathing Space.

What happens when it ends?

The protection stops, and creditors can contact the person and add interest again. The guidance for advisers says that if more protection is needed, the person can take debt advice and apply for a standard breathing space.

Nobody has to decide on a long-term plan while they are in crisis. When they are ready, a debt adviser can go through every option, from informal arrangements with creditors to a debt management plan or a formal solution. You can see how they compare in debt solutions compared. For support with the wider link between money and mental health, Mind and the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute both publish practical guidance.

Is there anything similar in Scotland or Northern Ireland?

Not yet. Breathing Space covers England and Wales only. Scotland has a 6-month moratorium on creditor enforcement, available through a money adviser, and a Scottish mental health moratorium has been passed into law but was not in force as at September 2026: see debt solutions in Scotland. In Northern Ireland, the Executive agreed in April 2026 to extend the Breathing Space scheme there, but nothing was in place as at September 2026.

What to do next

1. If anyone’s safety is at risk, use the numbers at the top of this page first.
2. Contact a free debt adviser, and say you are asking about a mental health crisis Breathing Space. Free, impartial debt advice is available from MoneyHelper, StepChange, Citizens Advice and National Debtline: see where to get free debt advice.
3. Ask the person’s care team who their AMHP is, and who would be the best nominated point of contact.
4. Gather the letters or a list of who is owed money, so the adviser can include every debt.