Almost 200,000 final bills, interim bills and payments on account have now been submitted through the Client and Cost Management System (CCMS).
We have received positive feedback from users who have submitted bills through CCMS. For instance, Central England Law Centre said:
We have seen improved cash flow as the billing turnaround time is much quicker through CCMS.
Payments on account through CCMS are very quick and easy to use, and the firm regularly use the system for disbursements.
Finally, the notifications and short deadlines makes the end user more engaged in dealing with legal aid matters.
We are also improving how we report monthly payments, making provider statements (PSOAs) and remittance advices more user friendly.
Benefits
If you have started a new case on CCMS, you need to use CCMS to submit your bill. We are currently processing CCMS bills quicker than on paper.
You can also submit multiple claims directly from your case management system onto CCMS using our claim upload function, saving time manually inputting data.
The claim upload function works by letting you submit multiple claims on one file, including claims from different offices and advocates.
For more information about claim upload, including how to avoid three common errors made by many providers and chambers when they first use the system, see link below.
Tips to prevent bill rejects
Currently, we are rejecting just under 9% of bills. The top 3 reasons for a bill being rejected are claiming for:
- the wrong ‘hearing unit’ or ‘fee’ for Family Advocates’ Scheme work
- a hearing that is ‘out of scope’ on the Family Advocates’ Scheme
- work that is ‘out of scope’ in general
Billing checklist coming soon
We plan to produce a new CCMS billing checklist to help you get your bills right first time. This will set out easy steps to avoid rework on rejected bills – including those uploaded in bulk. This will be publicised in a future e-alert.