Guidance

Legal Aid Agency payments to providers

Check dates for processing (crime and civil) and planned BACS payments, get financial statements, switch to variable monthly payments.

Applies to England and Wales

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 SMP impact assessment (PDF, 237 KB, 8 pages).

Read SMP engagement exercise (PDF, 395 KB, 19 pages) 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 you’re 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 you’re paid by BACS.

Help us process claims more quickly by waiting 8 days before contacting our customer services team about payments.

You’ll 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 2026

Monthly payment 1 | Monthly payment 2 | Monthly payment 3 | Monthly payment 4 | Monthly payment 5 -|-

05 Jan 12 Jan 19 Jan 26 Jan n/a
02 Feb 09 Feb 16 Feb 23 Feb n/a
02 Mar 09 Mar 16 Mar 23 Mar 30 Mar
07 Apr 13 Apr 20 Apr 27 Apr n/a
05 May 11 May 18 May 26 May n/a
01 Jun 08 Jun 15 Jun 22 Jun 29 Jun
06 Jul 13 Jul 20 Jul 27 Jul n/a
03 Aug 10 Aug 17 Aug 24 Aug n/a
01 Sep 07 Sep 14 Sep 21 Sep 28 Sep
05 Oct 12 Oct 19 Oct 26 Oct n/a
02 Nov 09 Nov 16 Nov 23 Nov 30 Nov
07 Dec 14 Dec 21 Dec 28 Dec n/a

Monthly LAA payment process

Variable monthly payments guidance

You can choose variable monthly payments if you provide civil (legal help) and crime (lower) work.

Switch to the LAA variable monthly payments scheme (MS Word Document, 33 KB)

Civil processing

Crime processing

Update your details

Note: we hold your details in a database.

Send any changes to your details in writing to:

Provider Records
Legal Aid Agency
Unit B8
Berkley Way
Viking Business Park
Jarrow
South Tyneside
NE31 1SF

Email: ProviderRecords-London@justice.gov.uk

Updates to this page

Published 1 June 2014
Last updated 5 January 2026 show all updates
  1. Monthly payment dates 2026

  2. Change to Provider Records postal address

  3. Monthly payment dates updated

  4. BACS payments and PSOA dates updated

  5. Dates updated

  6. 22nd Dec then 2nd Jan 24 now added

  7. 2023-2024 dates updated

  8. 2023-2024 dates updated

  9. 2023/2024 dated updated

  10. Published details of an engagement exercise to obtain providers’ views on our proposal to remove standard monthly payments from future contracts.

  11. Tables have been updated with information on dates for 2023

  12. Postal address and email address for Provider Records updated.

  13. Updated Monthly payment dates 2021 - 2022

  14. Updated the PSOA delivery date

  15. Updated the PSOA delivery date

  16. Monthly payment dates updated.

  17. Correction to the list of monthly payment dates for the weeks beginning 3 August and 1 September.

  18. PSOA dates updated.

  19. Monthly payment dates updated.

  20. Monthly payment dates updated.

  21. Provider Statement of Account delivery dates have been updated.

  22. Updated monthly payments

  23. Updated monthly payments

  24. Monthly payments dates updated.

  25. Dates updated.

  26. Monthly BACS payment dates updated.

  27. Provider payment dates updated.

  28. Monthly payment dates updated.

  29. New monthly payment dates added

  30. New provider statement of account dates added

  31. First published.

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