Providers making Very High Cost Cases (VHCC) claims under a CDS contract are being asked to submit the whole of their claim electronically.

Electronic claims are prioritised and help to reduce paperwork and speed up payment processing.

The LSC has a 20 working day target for the auditing of all claims. This applies to both electronic and paper claims.

However, the target is three months if the claim is submitted three months or more after the stage end date.

Information needed

The format of attendance notes/work logs can vary but must contain the following information:

1. Date
2. Time of day
3. Name and level of fee earner (solicitors only)
4. Task number
5. Comprehensive description of VHCC work completed
6. Total time spent
7. Volume/page count of material considered (where appropriate)

If the above information is included in what you submit to us, we can accept the attendance notes or work logs in a variety of formats.

Examples could include:

• a schedule/summary document breaking down the hours claimed per task
• a copy of the relevant section of your internal billing system
• attendance notes scanned and submitted either by e-mail or on disc depending on their size
• for travel disbursements, a schedule with copies of relevant receipts and invoices scanned and attached.

The electronic task list template for self-employed advocates also contains a work log template. While optional, its use would greatly assist our contract support officers in quickly and accurately auditing claims.

The need to provide hard copies of any work product, e.g. schedules/ proofs/ briefs etc, should be discussed in advance with your contract manager and only provided if necessary.

Further information

Very high cost criminal cases