Changes to Payments on Account
Further to our previous article written last month, the LAA are making further temporary changes to the rules surrounding payments on account.
The temporary amendments have been made to the 2018 civil contract to increase the limit for payments on account. Providers can now claim 80% of profit costs incurred for certificated work instead of the previous 75% and can claim 100% for any advocacy under FAS.
These changes came into force on 4 August 2020 and are currently due to end on 31 January 2021.
POA’s in respect of Provider Profit Costs
Providers can now submit a maximum of 4 applications instead of 2 within any 12 month period.
Providers cannot make a POA in respect of profit costs within the first 3 months from the date that funding was granted.
In CCMS you will need to enter 100% of the profit costs incurred to date and the CCMS system will calculate the 80% (for POA’s between 4 August 2020 and 31 January 2021) that will be paid to the provider.
POA’s in respect of FAS fees
Providers can now submit separate POA’s in respect of FAS fees and do not have to include them in their profit costs. Providers will be able to claim 100% advocacy costs.
This only applies to the current acting solicitor, or an agent thereof and the costs will still be required to be accounted for in your final bill submission.
In order to claim this on CCMS you must use the ‘Non Expert’ option as a workaround to claim advocacy. You will then need to enter:
- The date of the advocacy work. Use the first day if it is a multiple day hearing;
- The total value of the advocacy, including any bolt ons (excluding VAT);
- Select an applicable VAT rate;
- The advocates name; and
- ‘FAS Advocacy’ as the description.
POA’s in respect of Disbursements
POA’s in respect of disbursements remain the same and can be made at any point during the period of the public funding certificate providing that the final bill has not been submitted.
Disbursements vouchers must be submitted with any POA of disbursements of £20 or over (including VAT).
Improve your cash flow once you have received an invoice/incurred a disbursement by making a POA. You can also claim up to 12 minutes as profit costs for completing this task.
Contact us
At John M Hayes we stay up to date with any guidance or rules as set out by the LAA, so you can rest assured that we will prepare LAA compliant claims and supporting documentation ready to be submitted on CCMS to ensure you get paid promptly and first time. Please contact your local Regional Manager or call us on 0370 300 3780 now, for all your billing needs.