Payment and processing dates

On this page:

Payment dates
Civil processing timetable
Where to send your applications and bills
Updating your details

Payment dates

See the table for payment dates

The payment date is the day it goes into bank accounts (day 3 of BACS)

Settlement 1 (including contract payments)	2nd settlement of the month	3rd settlement of the month	4th settlement of the month	5th settlement of the month
	15 Dec 11	22 Dec 11
6 Jan 12	12 Jan 12	19 Jan 12	26 Jan 12
6 Feb 12	9 Feb 12	16 Feb 12	23 Feb 12	1 Mar 12
8 Mar 12	15 Mar 12	22 Mar 12	29 Mar 12

Civil processing timetable

These are the timescales we work to when processing your work.

Civil applications	This is an application for civil legal aid funding	90% in 20 working days
Civil amendments/authorities	When a solicitor wants us to fund more work to progress a case	90% in 10 working days
Civil Bills	This is when a solicitor submits a bill for us to check and process*	90% in 30 working days
Correspondence	Written correspondence sent to any of our Regional Offices	90% in 5 working days
Complaints	This is any expression of dissatisfaction	100% in 10 working days

*With the weekly payment system currently in place it takes between 4 and 9 days for Providers to receive payment once a bill has been authorised. As a result while we aim to process bills within 30 days it may be up to 40 days from receipt before payment is expected.

The table below shows our timetable for processing forms and payments. We can only respond to queries about work that falls outside these timescales, other than in exceptional circumstances, eg, when a court case is imminent.

National Civil Processing - Wednesday 22 February

Area of work	Work type	Oldest date of receipt by LSC of work now being processed
App 1	Non Family	06 February
App 3	Family	06 February
App 5	Children Act	06 February
App 8	Amendments	09 February
App 8	Prior Authority	17 February
App 9	Legal appeals	24 January
App 11	Discharges	07 February
	Means reassessments	19 January
	Means representations	12 December
	Legal representations	03 January
	Means correspondence	15 February
	Legal correspondence	16 February
Claim 1	Taxed with stat charge decision	09 January
Claim 1	Taxed without stat charge decision	19 January
Claim 1	Assessed with stat charge decision	06 January
Claim 1	Assessed without stat charge decision	09 January
Claim 1A	Fixed Fee	27 January
EC Claim 1	Civil Exceptional Case	07 February
Claim 5	FGF counsel claim	30 January
Claim 4	Payment on account	03 February
Claim 2	Settlement	23 January
	Finance Correspondence	14 February
App 10	Cost Appeals	05 January
App 1	Mental Health - Non Family - Urgent	16 February
App 1	Mental Health - Non Family	16 February
App 8	Mental Health - Amendment - Urgent	21 February
App 8	Mental Health - Amendment - Non Urgent	17 February
App 9	Mental Health - Legal Appeals	13 February
	Mental Health - Non Business Initial Assessments	N/A
	Mental Health - Business Initial Assessments - Urgent	N/A
	Mental Health - Business Initial Assessments	N/A
	Mental Health - Non Business Reassessments	N/A
	Mental Health - Business Reassessments	N/A
App 9	Mental Health - Ex Cases Legal Appeal	13 February
	Mental Health - Legal Correspondence	21 February
Claim 1	Mental Health - Batch A Claim 1	N/A
App 10	Mental Health - Cost Appeals	N/A
Claim 1	Mental Health - Ex Cases Claim 1	10 January
	VHCC - New Case Plans	09 January
	VHCC - Ongoing Case Plans (and CLAIM1)	19 December
	VHCC - Correspondence	19 January
	VHCC - High Cost Contracts	13 February
Claim 1	VHCC - Claim 1 (with contract agree)	N/A
Claim 5	VHCC - Claim 5	03 February
Claim 4	VHCC - Payment on account	03 February
	NIAT App 1	14 February
	NIAT App 8	20 February
	NIAT Exceptional Cases	19 January
	NIAT CW3	20 February

For queries on funding applications for High Cost civil cases, call the Special Cases Unit in our Brighton Office on 01273 878870.

For queries about funding applications for High Cost Family cases, call the Family Team in South Tyneside on 0300 200 2020 and choose the first option.

Where to send your applications and bills

To avoid delay make sure you send your forms to the right office. Check the document ‘where work is processed’ on the right of this page or the information on the form page itself. For new civil application forms see the civil forms page.

Updating your details

To keep our records up to date send any changes to your details in writing to:

Provider Records
12th Floor, Exchange Tower
2 Harbour Exchange Square
London E14 9GE

DX 100170 Docklands 2

Direct Tel: (020) 7718 8096
Fax: (020) 7718 8125

Last updated: 22 February 2012