Breathing Space Case Management
To Learn More About Breathing Space Case Management
What is Breathing Space Case Management?
Breathing Space is the legal moratorium provided to over-indebted residents under the Debt Respite Scheme (Breathing Space Moratorium and Mental Health Crisis Moratorium) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020, in force since May 2021. There are two routes: a Standard Breathing Space, lasting 60 days, accessed via an FCA-authorised debt advice provider; and a Mental Health Crisis Moratorium, lasting as long as the resident is in mental health crisis treatment plus 30 days, accessed via an Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP). For a social landlord, the scheme means rent-arrears recovery, interest, fees and most enforcement action are paused for the duration of the moratorium — and contacting the resident about the protected debt is prohibited.
The operational challenge: Breathing Space arrives via the Insolvency Service notification, often without warning. Income, Tenancy, Tenancy Sustainment and the contact centre all need to know within minutes that contact about the protected debt must stop, that no Notice Seeking Possession can be served, and that any direct debit or court action must be suspended. Without one shared record, well-meaning staff continue to chase the resident, breach the moratorium, and undermine both the resident’s recovery and the landlord’s regulatory standing.
Breathing Space — End-to-End Workflow
- Logged — Insolvency Service notification of a Standard or Mental Health Crisis Breathing Space received and recorded into one Breathing Space case in the Propsys360 Case Management module on Microsoft Dynamics 365; recovery hold flag activated immediately.
- Recovery suspended — automatic suspension of arrears letters, calls, direct debit changes and any Notice Seeking Possession; flag visible on the resident’s record across Propsys360.
- Debt advice contact — the resident’s debt adviser (Standard) or Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP) (Mental Health Crisis) recorded; a single point of contact established.
- Moratorium tracked — 60-day Standard or open-ended Mental Health Crisis countdown tracked on the case; mid-way review and end-date alerts set automatically.
- Tenancy sustainment — linked Welfare Benefit Referral, Universal Credit and Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) work continued where allowed, supporting the resident through the moratorium.
- Mid-way review — case reviewed at day 25-35 of a Standard Breathing Space; debt adviser updated; any change to the resident’s circumstances captured.
- End of moratorium — automatic restart of arrears recovery (where appropriate); resident contacted with a sustainable repayment plan; no breach of the protected period.
- Closed — outcome recorded; lessons fed into Tenancy Sustainment to identify residents at risk of future Breathing Space and offer support earlier.
Breathing Space Case Management in Propsys360
- One record, one version of the truth — every Breathing Space lives in a single record in the Propsys360 Case Management module on Microsoft Dynamics 365, replacing email warnings to the income team and post-it notes on tenant files.
- Linked across Propsys360 — joined automatically to the Tenancy, Income, Welfare Benefit Referral and Tenancy Sustainment records; the recovery-hold flag is visible on every screen the moment the moratorium starts.
- Recovery hold built in — arrears letters, automated calls, direct debit changes and any Notice Seeking Possession are blocked while the moratorium is active; no accidental breach.
- Mental Health Crisis Moratorium handling — open-ended countdown linked to the Approved Mental Health Professional’s (AMHP’s) certification, with renewal evidencing held against the case.
- Debt adviser / AMHP single point of contact — every interaction logged on the case in time order, with author and outcome; nothing falls between organisations.
- Mid-way review automation — reminders set at day 25-35 of a Standard Breathing Space so the case is actively managed, not forgotten.
- End-of-moratorium handling — recovery restarts automatically against an evidenced, agreed plan; no surprise letter the day after the moratorium ends.
- Reporting — number of residents in Breathing Space, by route, by patch and by source debt-advice provider, ready for board and tenancy-sustainment review.
Teams Helped by Breathing Space Case Management
Income / Recovery Officer — sees the recovery-hold flag the moment a Breathing Space starts; arrears letters, calls and direct debit changes are blocked automatically — no breach of the moratorium by accident.
Tenancy Sustainment Officer — picks up the case as the lead worker, with the resident’s full tenancy and welfare-benefits picture on one screen; supports the resident through the 60 days without duplicating the debt adviser’s role.
Welfare Benefits Adviser — works alongside the FCA-authorised debt adviser, attaching Universal Credit, Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) and grants to the case so the resident isn’t sent round the houses.
Contact Centre / Customer Service Advisor — sees the Breathing Space banner on the resident’s record before answering the phone, so the call is handled correctly the first time without breaching the moratorium.
Housing Officer / Neighbourhood Officer — sees the live moratorium status before any tenancy step; consistent, evidenced decisions, fully aligned with the Debt Respite Scheme regulations.
Director of Housing / Head of Income — sees portfolio-wide Breathing Space cases, by route and by debt-advice partner, with arrears trajectories before, during and after the moratorium.
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The Neo Technology model allows us to scale our development capacity, accelerating our transformation programmes while future-proofing our business while achieving substantial industry cost savings.
Their integrated agile project teams deliver across a range of business requirements in partnership with our Product Owners, such as System Enhancements, Data Integration & Cloud Migration, enabling Notting Hill Genesis to accelerate our digital transformation goals.
In partnership with Neo Technology, we have enhanced this solution by leveraging the capabilities of Azure Integration Services. This integration enables seamless agent engagement and efficient work status sharing between the Omnichannel system and our SaaS-based work allocation platform.
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