What stops bailiffs? Debt Relief Orders, IVAs and Breathing Space

Bailiffs By Council Tax Helpline, 10 September 2026

The quickest ways to stop bailiffs are usually to pay, agree a plan, or get your council to take the account back. See how to stop bailiffs. But if you have other debts too, or cannot pay at all, a formal option may be the answer. Here is what each one does to council tax bailiffs in England and Wales.

Breathing Space

Breathing Space is a legal pause for people in England and Wales. While it lasts, your council and its bailiffs must stop enforcing the debts included, and cannot add interest or charges.

• A standard Breathing Space lasts up to 60 days, and you can have one once in any 12 months
• A mental health crisis Breathing Space lasts as long as your crisis treatment, plus 30 days
• Council tax arrears are covered once they are overdue, but you must keep paying this year’s bill as it falls due

You cannot apply yourself. A debt adviser has to start it for you. It is a pause, not a solution, so use it to agree an arrangement or apply for a formal option. See Breathing Space.

A Debt Relief Order

Once a Debt Relief Order is made, your council, and any bailiffs, cannot continue to enforce the council tax arrears included in it. After 12 months, those arrears are written off.

You may qualify if you owe £50,000 or less, have £75 a month or less left after essential costs, and do not own your home. It is free to apply through an approved debt adviser.

An IVA

An individual voluntary arrangement is a formal deal with your creditors. Once it is approved, creditors bound by it, including your council, cannot enforce the debts included. Councils sometimes vote against IVAs where council tax is most of the debt.

Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy stops enforcement of council tax arrears for the period before the bankruptcy order, and writes them off when you are discharged, usually after 12 months. It has serious consequences, and costs £680.

A debt management plan

A debt management plan is informal, so it does not legally stop bailiffs. But the plans we have access to can include council tax arrears, and once your council agrees to be paid through the plan, it should not use bailiffs while the plan is kept to.

Tell them straight away

None of these works in practice until the bailiff firm knows. As soon as any of them is in place:

1. Write to the bailiff firm and to your council, quoting the reference for the Breathing Space, DRO, IVA or bankruptcy.
2. Ask for written confirmation that enforcement has stopped.
3. Keep copies of everything.

If a bailiff carries on after being told, complain to the firm and your council, and then to the Enforcement Conduct Board.

This year’s council tax is not covered

None of these options covers council tax that falls due after it starts. You must keep paying this year’s bill, or you can end up with new arrears, and new enforcement.

In Scotland

Scotland has its own options, such as the Debt Arrangement Scheme and protected trust deeds. See the Scotland section, or our sister service: