The LSC launched a new financial system on 22 October which is used to make payments to providers and counsel. As a result of this, there have been some changes to the financial information sent to you. Where previously you will have received two weekly different documents ? a BACS Payment Advice and a Debit Note - detailing payments made and debit balances due to the LSC, this information is now covered by the new weekly Remittance Advice and the new monthly Provider Statement of Account (PSoA).

The PSoA describes your legal aid account?s overall position and the transactions which we have processed, paid and off-set within your account.

Key features of the PSoA are:

The PSoA sets out the opening balance on account (if any), transactional activity in the period and any off-setting transactions.

The statement will provide information on which payments (if any) have been off-set against debit notes, to detail the make-up of net payments and to support the allocation of legal aid payments against individual cases.

The statement?s closing position will set out the amount either LSC owes to a provider, or where a provider has a closing debit balance with the LSC.

You will receive your first PSoA in the post this week which covers the period from 15 October to 5 November. A guidance document explaining how to use the new Provider Statement of Account has been produced to support you.

If you need any further help with the PSoA, or have a query relating to your payment and Remittance Advice, contact us at paymentinformation@legalservices.gsi.gov.uk and we will deal with your query as soon as we can.