Legal Aid Agency
class="gem-c-govspeak govuk-govspeak govuk-!-margin-bottom-0">
Proposal to remove standard monthly payments from future contracts
We are seeking your views on the advantages of moving all providers on to a single system of monthly payments. This would mean removing the option of standard monthly payments (SMP) from future legal aid contracts. All providers would instead be moved to variable monthly payments (VMP).
We are inviting representative bodies and all providers to take part in an engagement exercise, which includes a questionnaire.
The engagement exercise will close on 30 June 2023.
We will publish a response to the engagement exercise in August 2023.
Read our .
Read for further information and how to provide feedback.
Management information online service
Using the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) MI online service, you can access, download and print financial statements from your own office or from the whole firm.
This service is only available if youre signed up to use to LAA online.
PSOA dates 2025
The PSOA gives you a summary document of all account transactions.
PSOA delivery date | Period covered-|-
| 6 January | December 2024 |
| 6 February | January 2025 |
| 6 March | February 2025 |
| 4 April | March 2025 |
| 6 May | April 2025 |
| 5 June | May 2025 |
| 4 July | June 2025 |
| 6 August | July 2025 |
| 4 September | August 2025 |
| 6 October | September 2025 |
| 4 November | October 2025 |
| 6 December | November 2025 |
| 4 January | December 2025 |
BACS payments
Once your bill is ready for payment, it might take up to 8 working days for the money to reach your account if youre paid by BACS.
Help us process claims more quickly by waiting 8 days before contacting our customer services team about payments.
Youll normally receive remittance advice on the payment date, unless there are problems with the postal system.
We make contract payments in the first week of the month (payment 1).
Note: the payment date stated on remittance advice slips will appear as 3 working days before you receive funds, due to additional processing time.
Monthly payment dates 2024 - 2025
Monthly payment 1 | Monthly payment 2 | Monthly payment 3 | Monthly payment 4 | Monthly payment 5-|-
| 06 Jan | 13 Jan | 20 Jan | 27 Jan | n/a |
| 03 Feb | 13 Feb | 20 Feb | 27 Feb | n/a |
| 03 Mar | 10 Mar | 17 Mar | 24 Mar | n/a |
| 07 Apr | 14 Apr | 22 Apr | 28 Apr | n/a |
| 06 May | 12 May | 19 May | 27 May | n/a |
| 02 Jun | 09 Jun | 16 Jun | 23 Jun | 30 Jun |
| 07 Jul | 14 Jul | 21 Jul | 28 Jul | n/a |
| 04 Aug | 11 Aug | 18 Aug | 26 Aug | n/a |
| 01 Sep | 06 Sep | 15 Sep | 22 Sep | 29 Sep |
| 06 Oct | 143Oct | 20 Oct | 27 Oct | n/a |
| 03 Nov | 10 Nov | 17 Nov | 24 Nov | n/a |
| 01 Dec | 08 Dec | 15 Dec | 22Dec | n/a |
Variable monthly payments guidance
You can choose variable monthly payments if you provide civil (legal help) and crime (lower) work.