Legal aid remains a cornerstone of access to justice, ensuring that individuals of limited financial means are not denied their legal rights due to lack of financial recourses. In England and Wales, the system of legal aid billing has evolved significantly, particularly with the advent of the Legal Aid Agency (LAA), Client and Cost Management System (CCMS) and other digital platforms.

Key Features of Legal Aid Online Billing

Legal aid online billing requires practitioners to input detailed breakdowns of the work done, time spent, disbursements incurred, and the outcomes achieved. This digitised process has become the norm for most civil and family legal aid work.  As well as submitting interim and final bills for aspects of work completed, suppliers of legal aid services can also apply for Payments on Account (POAs) for work done, so as to ensure cashflow is always being generated for their law firm.

Key features of legal aid online billing:

Digital claims submission: Practitioners submit claims through structured forms that guide the entry of cost details, which are then reviewed and assessed by the LAA.

Real-time tracking: Users can monitor the progress of their submissions and receive notifications regarding the outcome of their claims or requests for further information.

Validation rules: Built-in rules check for common errors and omissions, reducing the likelihood of rejected claims.

Supporting documents: Evidence such as attendance notes, court orders, and expert invoices must be uploaded for assessment to justify the work done and costs claimed.

What is the CCMS Platform?

The Client and Cost Management System  (CCMS) is an online platform accessible to fee earners, costs draftsmen, and costs lawyers who have been granted appropriate access by a legal aid provider.

Through the CCMS online portal, users can manage all areas of legal aid work, including submitting applications and handling billing processes. In terms of costs, the system allows for straightforward preparation and submission of fixed costs claims on a per-case basis.

In May 2025 CCMS was subject to a large-scale cyber attack, as a result of which legal aid providers were unable to submit claims for costs, including for POAs.  The Legal Aid Agency has put in place contingency plans for law firms to claim urgent payments for ongoing work, and ARC Costs can assist with facilitating the same and maintaining cashflow for your law firm.  Contact us to find out more.

Can exceptional costs claims be dealt with via legal aid online billing?

Exceptional costs claims, as well as fixed costs claims for legal aid cases can be processed via CCMS. To make an exceptional costs claim, a detailed costs breakdown/CCMS compliant bill of costs needs to be prepared, which itemises all the work completed.  We would strongly recommend the input of an independent Costs Draftsman or Costs Lawyer at this juncture to ensure that the full extent of costs are claimed with any appropriate uplift applied.  Submissions to CCMS must also be supported by appropriate evidence, such as detailed time logs, explanations of case complexity, or expert reports that demonstrate the need for costs exceeding standard fixed fees.

The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) will assess the application and may request further documentation or clarification before making a decision to approve or reject the claim.

If the application is approved, the exceptional costs can then be claimed through CCMS, with all necessary billing documents uploaded for assessment.

Failure to instruct an appropriate costs professional can lead to costs claims being rejected (which impacts KPIs on your legal aid contract), diminished costs recovery or limiting of your costs claim to fixed fees.  It is therefore imperative that you consult with a legal costs expert to ensure maximum recovery of any legally aided work you have undertaken for your clients.

How can ARC Costs Assist?

Our team of highly skilled Law Costs Draftsmen and Costs Lawyers regularly assist in all types of costs claims, including legal aid fixed fee and exceptional costs claims.  We work in an array of aspects of work, from traditional family areas such as domestic abuse, children act, ancillary relief and care work, to non-family matters such as housing disrepair, judicial review and mental health costs claims.

We regularly use the legal aid online billing platforms to submit legal aid costs claims and deal with all the administration on behalf of our clients and to free up the time of fee earners, thereby ensuring you can recover your maximum legal aid fees in an expeditious and efficient manner.

Our expert team can also assist with regards to any inter-partes costs orders made in your client’s favour, and if your client is legally aided and has a costs order in their favour, the indemnity principle does not apply and costs can be claimed at full commercial rates.

To find out more about how we can help you, please contact us at 01204 397302 or info@arccosts.co.uk.

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