How to Check What Counsel Has Been Paid
This chapter will layout how to check CCMS for the costs allocated to counsel and how much counsel have been paid by LAA.
In any case where counsel has been instructed, CCMS will let you see what has been claimed and paid.
Search for the case using the Cases and Applications page.
Enter any of the unique information for the case, then click Search
On the Case Overview page, select View Case or Application.
On the Case Details page, scroll down and select Case Cost Limitation.
On the Case Cost Details screen, select Cost Limit Allocation.
The Case Cost Details screen will breakdown the full allocations, and amount used, to every party allocated on the case, including any previously instructed solicitor if there has been a transfer of provider.
The Provider Cost Breakdown column shows how much has been allocated to each party. The Amount Used column shows how much has been paid to that party.
These figures should be cross-referenced with your own case management software or the case plan for any case subject to a high cost contract.
Family Cases: the Family Advocacy Scheme
This chapter should be used where counsel has claimed costs under the Family Advocacy Scheme (FAS).
Counsels’ FAS must be paid before your claim is submitted. The only exception to this is on private law cases where your claim is an interim claim for one aspect and there is counsel’s FAS on another aspect which is still ongoing. When you submit your claim to LAA, you are confirming to LAA that counsel’s claims are correct and accurate.
Following the steps in this guide can help avoid the risk of civil bill rejects and helps us pay your claim first time.
2.1 Check What Has Been Paid to Counsel
Follow the steps in chapter 1: How to Check What Counsel Has Been Paid
The Case Cost Details screen will show if counsel has billed or not. The figure in the Amount Used column should match the figure in the Provider Cost Breakdown column. In this example, counsel has been allocated £3,940.09 and paid £3,940.09. this means they have nothing left of their remaining cost limit.
Where counsel’s remaining costs are not £0.00, your bill will be rejected. This can impact on your KPIs and lead to delay in payment.
Family Cases: Excluded From the Family Advocacy Scheme
This chapter should be followed where proceedings are excluded from the Family Advocacy Scheme (FAS) and paid at hourly rates.
FAS excluded family cases with a missing claim from counsel are one of the most common causes of civil bill rejects. You can avoid bill rejects and be paid first time by following this guide.
Your claim must be submitted alongside all counsel claims.
3.1. Check the Allocated Costs to Counsel
Follow the steps in chapter 1, How to Check What Counsel Has Been Paid
The Certificate Cost Limitation for counsel should be set at the amount you have agreed with counsel for the work undertaken. LAA will reject both your claim and counsel’s claim for the limit to be amended if it is not sufficient for counsel’s costs. Once counsel’s cost limit is sufficient, you can proceed to submit your bill in line with the relevant picture guide.
3.2. Check Counsel Has Submitted a Bill
Check the Counsel column on the Case Statement of Account page. The Bills Submitted but not Authorised figure will show if counsel has submitted their bill, but LAA have not assessed it yet.
On family cases excluded from FAS, CCMS does not co-ordinate Counsel and provider claims which must be submitted together. To avoid risk of rejection, counsel and provider claims therefore must be co-ordinated manually between Counsel and provider.
Once Counsel or provider (whoever submits first) has submitted their claim together with their supporting documents, the associated claim from provider or counsel (whoever is second to submit) must be submitted together with their supporting documents. It is important to note that the second claim from provider or counsel MUST be submitted within the LAA’s current oldest processing date otherwise there is a risk the first claim will be processed and rejected before the second claim has been received. When manually co-ordinating provider and counsel claims it is important therefore to check the current LAA processing dates to coordinate both submissions within the correct timeframe.
Up-do-date information on LAA’s oldest processing dates is available here: Civil processing dates – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Family Cases: High Cost
This chapter should be followed where proceedings are under an Individual Case Contract for a Family case (VHCC).
For pre-contract costs, please refer to
- Chapter 2: Family Cases: the Family Advocacy Scheme
- Chapter 3: Family Cases: Excluded From the Family Advocacy Scheme
4.1. Check the Allocated Costs to Counsel
Follow the steps in chapter 1, How to Check What Counsel Has Been Paid
The Certificate Cost Limitation for counsel should be set at the amount that has been agreed with counsel for the work undertaken. LAA will reject both your claim and counsel’s claim for the limit to be amended if it is not sufficient for counsel’s costs. Once counsel’s cost limit is sufficient, you can proceed to submit your bill in line with the relevant picture guide.
4.2. Create the Bill
Create the bill in line with the step-by-step guide for high cost bills. There is no option to claim on behalf of counsel in high cost cases, counsel can only claim directly from LAA.
4.3. No High Cost Billing Option
If CCMS is not asking the High Cost billing question, or giving no option to submit a High Cost claim, it is likely that the relevant restriction is missing. LAA can correct this if you notify us using a ‘VHCC Enquiry’ task in CCMS.
Non-Family Cases: Claiming on Counsel’s Behalf
This chapter should be followed where counsel has agreed that you can claim directly from LAA on their behalf as part of the final claim. You should only use this method where both counsel and solicitor are based in London or both are based outside London. For more information, please see Frequently Asked Questions.
If you follow these steps, LAA will require confirmation from counsel they have consented to you submitting their claim. This can be an email or note from counsel. It should be uploaded as normal with your billing documentation.
5.1. Check the Allocated Costs to Counsel
Follow the steps at chapter 1, How to Check What Counsel Has Been Paid
If you have allocated counsel to the certificate, their cost allocation should be £0.00 if you are claiming on their behalf. If you do not reduce any cost allocation to zero, CCMS will expect a separate bill from counsel and will hold your claim until one is received. This can lead to delays in payment and civil bill rejects.
If counsel have claimed any POAs, even when you bill on their behalf, CCMS will recoup the POAs directly from counsel.
5.2. Creating the Bill
Create the bill in line with the step-by-step guide for non-family bills.
At the Multiple Fee Scheme Bills page, you will be asked ‘Would you like to bill for Codified Barrister Rates?’ Answer Yes, then Next.
Continue to create your line-by-line bill in line with the step-by-step guide for non-family bills.
After you have created your itemised claim, you can create the claim for counsel.
On the Complex Issues page, you can confirm if counsel is claiming an enhancement or not.
Answer Yes where counsel is enhancing the hourly rate claimable or No if counsel is only claiming the base hourly rate.
On the Codified Barrister Bill Line page, enter the work undertaken by counsel line-by-line. There is no summary level option for counsel’s claim, all work must be itemised.
The following information is mandatory:
- Activity Date: the date the work was undertaken (DD/MM/YYYY)
- Activity Type: select the relevant activity from the drop-down list
- Court Type: select the level of court
- Counsel Level: counsel’s seniority, senior counsel is counsel with 10 years or more experience. Prior Authority must be granted for any KC or leading and junior counsel.
- Activity Time: the length of time spent on the Activity
- VAT: select the relevant VAT rate from the drop-down list
- Fee Earner: counsel’s name
The following information is optional, depending how you answered the previous question: Uplift: the enhancement on the base hourly rate counsel is seeking, entered as a %
Once completed, click Next.
On the Exclusions from the Codified Barrister Scheme page, select Remove and then next.
On the Codified Barrister Travel & Waiting Lines page enter any claims for travel and waiting for counsel, including any travel expenses.
• Activity Date: the date the work was undertaken (DD/MM/YYYY)
• Activity Type: select the relevant activity from the drop-down list
• VAT: select the relevant VAT rate from the drop-down list
• Fee Earner: counsel’s name
The following combinations should be used, based on what is being claimed:
• For travel or waiting time, enter Activity Time and Hourly Rate.
• For travel expenses, enter Net Value.
If there is no claim for travel or waiting, click Remove then Next.
The remainder of the bill can now be completed in line with the step-by-step guide for non-family bills.
Non-Family Cases: Counsel Claiming Directly
This chapter should be followed where counsel wishes to claim their costs directly from LAA.
Issues with counsel and solicitor claims on non-family cases are one of the most common causes of civil bill rejects. You can avoid bill rejects and be paid first time by following this guide.
Your claim must be submitted alongside all counsel claims.
6.1. Check the Allocated Costs to Counsel
Follow the steps at chapter 1, How to Check What Counsel Has Been Paid
The Certificate Cost Limitation should be set at the amount you have agreed with counsel for the work undertaken. LAA will reject both your claim and counsel’s claim for the limit to be amended if it is not sufficient for counsel’s costs. Once counsel’s cost limit is sufficient, you can proceed to bill in line with the relevant picture guide.
6.2. Creating the Bill
Create the bill in line with the step-by-step guide for non-family bills.
At the Multiple Fee Scheme Bills page, you will be asked ‘Would you like to bill for Codified Barrister Rates?’ Answer No, then Next
Continue to create your line-by-line bill in line with the step-by-step guide for non-family bills. After you have created your itemised claim, CCMS will send a notification to counsel that you have submitted your bill and that counsel should now submit their bill.
Once CCMS sends the notification to counsel, it will confirm to you it has done this with the above automated Awaiting Counsel Bill notification.
CCMS will hold your claim for a maximum of 14 days. If counsel’s claim is not received in full, your claim will be processed and rejected, which can impact on your KPIs and lead to delays in payment. This is particularly important where there are multiple counsel as receipt of the first counsel’s claim will release all claims for processing.
Non-Family Cases: High Cost
This chapter should be followed where proceedings are under an Individual Case Contract for a non-family case.
For pre-contract costs, please refer to
• Chapter 5: Non-Family Cases: Claiming on Counsel’s Behalf; or
• Chapter 6: Non-Family Cases: Counsel Claiming Directly
7.1. Check the Allocated Costs to Counsel
Follow the steps in chapter 1, How to Check What Counsel Has Been Paid
The Cost Limitation for counsel should be set at the amount that has been agreed with counsel for the work undertaken. LAA will reject both your claim and counsel’s claim for the limit to be amended if it is not sufficient for counsel’s costs. Once counsel’s cost limit is sufficient, you can proceed to bill in line with the relevant picture guide.
7.2. Create the Bill
Create the bill in line with the step-by-step guide for high cost bills.
There is no option to claim on behalf of counsel in high cost cases, counsel can only claim directly from LAA. For information on the point of assessment, please refer to chapter 8: Point of Assessment
After you have created your itemised claim, CCMS will send a notification to counsel that you have submitted your bill and that counsel should now submit their bill.
Once CCMS sends the notification to counsel, it will confirm to you it has done this with the above automated Awaiting Counsel Bill notification.
CCMS will hold your claim for a maximum of 14 days. If counsel’s claim is not received in full within, your claim will be processed and rejected, which can impact on your KPIs and lead to delays in payment.
Point of Assessment
8.1. Authority for Assessment
In order to assess the costs of both counsel and the solicitor, one of the following must have taken place:
• the case has concluded and there is an order from the court providing for assessment; or
• the funding has been withdrawn by way of discharge or revocation.
This applies if the assessing authority is either LAA or the court.
8.2. Family Advocacy Scheme (FAS)
FAS is payable to counsel as and when the hearing completes. By submitting the final bill, you are confirming to us the claims made by counsel are correct and there are no further claims to be submitted. LAA may review and adjust the payments to counsel as part of the final assessment of costs.
8.3. Hourly Rates Cases
LAA will treat the claims as one single claim with one single point of assessment. Claims will not be assessed independently. You will need to coordinate with counsel to ensure all claims are submitted together for assessment.
This means if there are issues or delays with either your claim our counsel’s claim, then all relevant parts of the claim will be rejected.
Submission of bills in this respect includes uploading supporting paperwork. LAA will continue to consider any claim without the supporting paperwork as an incorrectly submitted claim.
8.4. High Cost Family
You will need to coordinate with counsel to ensure all claims are submitted together for assessment. This is to prevent issues with POAs payable to counsel.
Frequently Asked Questions
| Question | Answer |
| When does CCMS stop me amending counsel’s allocated cost limit? | You can amend counsel’s cost limit up and until your final claim has been assessed. This means you can still amend counsel’s cost limit upwards or downwards after you have had the certificate discharged or if there is a live bill in the system. You cannot amend counsel’s cost limit below any amount that they have already been paid. |
| Can I claim on behalf of counsel on a FAS excluded family case (i.e. hourly rates for counsel)? | No. CCMS only allows the provider to claim on counsel’s behalf on non-family cases. Counsel must claim directly from LAA in all family cases. |
| If I claim on behalf of counsel in a non-family case, will any POAs to counsel also be recouped from me? | No, if counsel has a POA and you claim on their behalf with the final bill, the POAs to counsel will be recouped from counsel. It is your responsibility to ensure the funds are passed over to counsel so they can balance any potential issues on their account. |
| Should I allocate VAT to counsel? | No, the allocated cost limit should be for net costs only. VAT is exempted from cost limits. |
| I am getting an error message about the combination of counsel and court, what can I do? | CCMS will only accept certain combinations of counsel and not allow others (for example, junior counsel in the county court). Where this is the case, select a different combination and upload a note to LAA for assessment. |
| Can I claim on behalf of counsel who is based in London if I am a solicitor who is not based in London? | This will only affect non-family cases where the provider is billing on counsel’s behalf. In these cases, as CCMS does not know which counsel is billing, it cannot apply the variations between the rates for London and non-London counsel and will base the rates on where the provider who is claiming is based. It is advisable on these cases for counsel to claim directly from LAA. |
| Why did you reject my claim before the 14 days for counsel to submit their claim expired? | In non-family cases involving multiple counsel, CCMS releases the claim for processing when one counsel bill has received. You should make sure all counsel submit their bill in a timely manner to avoid this happening. |
| I am claiming on counsel’s behalf, but have received a notification from CCMS that it’s awaiting a bill from counsel. What should I do? | Check what counsel has been allocated. If you have assigned counsel to the case and given them a cost allocation of £0.01 or greater, CCMS will automatically prompt counsel for a bill. You should reduce the cost allocation to zero and contact LAA to ask the notification to counsel gets cancelled. |
| Why is my reject record impacted when counsel have failed to submit their claim? | This is because as the contracted provider on the claim who chooses which counsel to instruct and allocate costs to, it is your responsibility to ensure a full and completed bill, which includes costs for counsel where relevant, is submitted to LAA. Please refer to paragraph 6.6 of the Standard Civil Contract, available here: 2018 Standard Civil Contract (publishing.service.gov.uk) |
| Does this apply to appeals from the First Tier Tribunal being heard in the Upper Tribunal? | The principles on how to check counsel’s allocation and claims, as well as the point of assessment, are the same. |