Legal aids

Can anyone explain how legal aids calculate their charges?

Dragonfly,

As I understand it it works like this...

You apply for legal aid and if you qualify then the legal services commission issues a certificate that confirms to the solicitor that they will pay the solicitor for working on your case.

The legal services commission set guidelines that the solicitor must follow that restrict the scope of their work (e.g. the certificate may cover work on ancillary relief but not on a separate child contact case).

I assume (but am not 100% sure) that the scheme will also set a limit for the hourly charge the solicitor makes.

But....

It still essentially means that the size of the bill is determined by the time spent on the case by your solicitor. So if you want to understand how much the bill is going to be, the person to ask is your solicitor. You can ask them to produce an itemised bill (though ironically some firms may charge for this!!).

The solicitor will present the bill/invoice to the legal services commission to get paid.

You have to pay back the legal services commission.
Either immediately if you have the ready funds. Or if not then the loan may be attached as a charge on your house so that you pay it back when you sell you house.

Hope this helps. I'm not the world expert on this so am fuzzy on some details - but the above is basically what happens.

Thanks DBNO,

Its alot clearer, I'll chase my sol for an estimate of her cost. The last time I asked her, she told me that she doesnt know as it will go to costing. What that means, I just dont know.
When Legal aids execute a charge on one's property, do they charge lots of interest or a one off interest rate on settlement?
Can you cut the cost if you think that at the end of it all, it had cost you some finacial loss?