The Legal Aid Agency continues to update its Frequently Asked Questions page following the cyber attack which has forced many of its systems offline.
The page was created in the wake of the attack on 23rd April. Since then the agency has said the extent of the breach is worse than first feared with unconfirmed reports of over 2m people’s data being affected, including law firms. The agency acknowledges ‘a significant amount of personal data from those who applied for legal aid through our digital service since 2010’ has been accessed. It is understood personal details including contact details, addresses, national insurance number, employment status and financial data have all been accessed.
Firms have been advised to update any passwords that could have been exposed, particularly if people used their LAA password for other services, and be alert to unknown messages and phone calls.
The LAA published further updates to its FAQs page on Friday (23rd May) and Tuesday (27th May) confirming the portal remains offline. An update on billing has been provided as follows
Crime billing
If we are able to process crime higher bills this week we will inform you as soon as possible. If this is not possible, all our efforts will be focused on ensuring there is a viable contingency in place to maintain provider cashflow (solicitors and barristers). CCCD remains available so please do continue to submit claims there. We have already communicated contingency arrangements for CRM4s, CRM5s and CRM7s.
Civil billing
CCMS is currently unavailable. We understand the particular importance of access to billing systems and contingency for these, and are in the final stages of developing a contingency scheme. We will you update you on details of this early this week.
I would like to reassure you that addressing the needs of legal aid providers to access our billing processes is of the highest priority for us.
Average Payments for Civil Representation Scheme
Due to the current portal outage caused by criminal activity, the Legal Aid Agency is unable to assess Civil Representation claims and payments in the usual way. The LAA is invoking contingency arrangements for those CCMS users that need contingency payments whilst the portal is unavailable.
Under these contingency arrangements, CCMS users may opt to receive a temporary average payment for Civil Representation work that would otherwise be due. The first payment offer is for 2 weeks, subsequent payments will be 1 week. The weekly average will be based on previous payments made over a 3-month period.
The process to opt in to contingency and accept the payment is entirely voluntary and will run on a weekly basis, giving you flexibility to opt in each week. To opt in, you must let us know by midday each Monday to make that week’s payment run. We will review this position after running the process for two weeks.
If you do not wish to opt in, you need take no further action. However, by not opting in, you will be unable to submit claims and will receive no payment.
Payments under these contingency arrangements are not final payments. They are not made under a specific case reference and do not replace the need to submit a bill once system access is restored. They should not be posted against individual accounts on any of your own case records. They will require balancing and netting after the fact when system access is available again. For more information, please refer to the .
Following systems restoration these payments will be recouped. A staggered recoupment process will begin when systems have been operational for 2 weeks. This will allow time for bill submissions and receipts of payments and minimise risks of deficits forming on accounts. If you opt in you must sign a declaration that confirms you are agreeing to the terms of the recoupment and that you will retain records of claims which are due to be submitted and provide these to LAA upon request. You should not opt-in if you do not have sufficient claims to cover the payment. The is available on GOV.UK.
An email was sent to providers on Wednesday 28 May, confirming the amount payable for their account.
To opt into these contingency arrangements, CCMS users should download and complete the declaration form from LAA’s website and send it to CivilClaimBC@justice.gov.uk providing the Provider/Counsel Account Number and name of the account. The CCMS user’s email should be sent from an official office account so that it can be verified.
Consideration should be given as to whether contingency is right for a user’s circumstance. If you believe your claims to be billed significantly exceed this payment and it will cause considerable hardship, please contact your contract manager or for members of the independent Bar, please contact the above email address.
The LAA say they can still be contacted by email and have recruited additional dedicated call centre capacity for members of the public concerned about the impacts of this incident. The call centre can be contacted on 0300 200 2020.
LAA chief executive Jane Harbottle has apologised for the breach, saying the agency has taken ‘radical action’ with contingency plans in place those needing access.
One Response
Dear Sirs,
The LAA response to the Cyber attack has been too slow, secretive, and ineffectual.
There is no respect for stakeholders and the LAA treat the stakeholders as pawns in their process without acknowledging the impact these challenges have on them.
Will the LAA be liaising with HMRC and other government agencies and find solutions to delay payments etc. due to LAA none payment.
What about communication with Banks.
The LAA contract managers seem to have gone into hiding. I suspect a freedom of information application would identify these managers are paid more than front line solicitors, how can that be right. This is especially so when the LAA are so ill prepared for this attack and the delay putting into place effective contingency plans. The LAA make payments on Mondays, we are now Thursday and no payment, why. The LAA are benefiting from this at the loss of stakeholders. The LAA is not fit for purpose and needs dismantling.