Universal Credit (UC)
income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
You must assess capital means in all cases. However, if your client receives financial support under sections 4 or 95 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 from the National Asylum Support Service (NASS), they’re passported through both income and capital tests for controlled work immigration and asylum matters only.
Eligibility limits
Gross income limit
Your client’s gross monthly income should be £2,657 or less. If they have more than 4 child dependants, add £222 to this figure for the fifth child and each further child.
Disposable income limit
Disposable capital limit
This limit is set at £8,000 for all civil legal services except any relating to an immigration matter set out in regulation 8(3), which is capped at £3,000.
Queen’s Bench DivisionPublished January 13, 2021Regina (GR) v Director of Legal Aid Casework Before Mr Justice Pepperall[2020] EWHC 3140 (Admin)Judgment November 24, 2020The Director of Legal Aid
Civil Legal Aid (Financial Resources and Payment for Services) (Amendment) Regulations 2020
Changes to the legal aid rules have been laid in Parliament that will allow more homeowners on low incomes to access legal aid. The rule change, brought about by the
Civil Legal Aid (Financial Resources and Payment for Services) (Amendment) Regulations 2020(the Amendment Regulations), will particularly benefit survivors of domestic violence, with many more able to have legal representation in family proceedings, reducing the risk of being cross-examined by their abusers in court.
The Government agreed to change the rules on imaginary capital in response to the judgment in