Legal Aid
Legal Aid is a form of government welfare benefit available to eligible persons who cannot afford to pay for private legal services. It is administered by the Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB). Essentially, your solicitor sends your legal bill to SLAB instead of to you. However, please note the exception of clawback (below).
Renfrewshire Law Centre offers legal aid, usually of two kinds - Advice & Assistance (A&A) or Civil Legal Aid.
Advice & Assistance
A&A covers meetings with your solicitor, correspondence, telephone calls etc, and representation in some tribunals (ABWOR). If you qualify, your solicitor may grant A&A to a certain level, after which it is necessary to apply to SLAB for increases in authorised expenditure in order for your solicitor to keep working on your file.
Eligibility for A&A is assessed with reference to household financial circumstances, i.e. if you live with a partner, then your partner's income and savings are taken into account.
If total household savings (and other capital, not including your principal residence) are less than £1,639 for a single person or £1,974 for a couple, then you may qualify subject to income There may be further allowances for other household residents or for pensioners on low incomes.
If total household income is less than £100 net a week, then you may qualify without requiring to pay any personal financial contribution out of your own pocket. If income is between £101-£234 net a week, then you may qualify with a contribution (the maximum contribution is currently £134, although RLC usually doesn't charge this of Renfrewshire residents). If income is over £234 net a week, then it is unlikely you would qualify. Certain benefits are not taken into account, and there may be allowances for other household residents, e.g. £36.65 for a partner and £56.11 for each child.
Civil Legal Aid
Civil Legal Aid covers court work. Your solicitor cannot grant it. You must apply to SLAB, although your solicitor may help you complete the application paperwork.
Eligibility for Civil Legal Aid is more complex than than for A&A, but is similarly assessed with reference to household financial circumstances, i.e. if you live with a partner, then your partner's income and savings are taken into account. The upper disposable income threshold is currently £25,000 a year.
You may require to pay a personal financial contribution out of your own pocket (which RLC cannot waive, unlike the contribution for A&A).
Civil Legal Aid may confer on you some level of protection from your opponent's legal expenses. For example, in many cases you would usually require to pay your oppnent's expenses if litigation has become nessary through some fault on your part, or in the event of your defeat at court. However, if you have Civil Legal Aid, then the sheriff or judge may decide to restrict your opponent's expenses. Nonetheless, it should be noted Defenders in mortgage repossession cases generally require to pay their lenders' expenses in any event in terms of the mortgage contract.
Clawback
If you win your case and obtain compensation or retain an asset, e.g. your home in a mortgage repossession case, then SLAB may refuse to pay your solicitor's bill, whereupon you may have to pay it out of your own pocket in whole or in part, unless your solicitor is willing to waive his fee.
In some cases SLAB may pay the bill yet seek to recover it from you afterwards, or register a charge over your home.
It is an offence to understate your financial circumstances in applying for legal aid.
Clients who receive the benefit of legal aid may have their files requisitioned by the Law Society of Scotland for external audit under the "Peer Review" quality assurance scheme.