He warns: “You can only have one Breathing Space every 12 months. It’s important to know that I’m not saying you don’t have to make payments – you should still, where possible, be trying to make payments for ongoing liabilities. It’s the additional charges and interest that stops, [along with] anyone trying to force you to make them. If you don’t [make payments] you’ll still owe that money afterwards.”

Can people receiving mental health crisis care get debt help?

Lewis discusses why this is so important for people’s mental health: “When people are in a panic over their debts and everything is on top of them, actually getting a little bit of time to go [Lewis takes in and releases deep breathe], ‘I’m going to sort this out’ and getting professional help from these non-profit debt agencies… it just can help things.”

He also points out: “And element of this is [called] Recovery Space. What that means is that within the Breathing Space regulations, everyone receiving NHS crisis care for their mental health automatically gets Breathing Space… for as long as their in crisis care and for a period afterwards.

“The reason we pushed so hard for this (if affects around 12,000 people a year) is because of the terrible, nightmarish stories of people being hospitalised for conditions that include anxiety… and they come back with anxiety or depression from hospital in crisis care to face bailiffs at the door the next day, which is obviously devastating for anybody, nevermind if you’re [dealing with] a crisis mental health condition.”

Help with debt: what you need to know about the government’s Breathing Space scheme