Civil legal aid pre-check — Northern Ireland UK

Which Northern Ireland service is covered?

Representation Higher has different rules from advice and assistance and Representation Lower. Select the appropriate civil case type here; do not use this annual assessment to test a weekly-income service. Criminal legal aid is outside this page’s scope.

The ordinary numerical limits are only part of the civil decision. Your solicitor and LSANI must also consider the proceeding, merits and evidence. Select the unsure option for a possible waiver, non-means-tested proceeding or figures that have not been assessed.

Use the assessed annual resources

Disposable annual income follows the Northern Ireland financial regulations, including the relevant assessment period, deductions and any resources that must be combined. It is not the same as gross salary or annual take-home pay. The calculator does not create an assessment from those raw figures.

Capital must also be assessed under the applicable property, ownership, pensioner and disregard rules. Above the upper capital guide, the question of whether you can afford proceedings and the relevant costs can require the Director’s assessment. The result therefore asks for discretionary review rather than issuing an automatic refusal on capital alone.

Personal injury and benefit passporting

The published Representation Higher limits distinguish proceedings involving a personal-injury claim from other civil cases. Select the correct category before comparing assessed resources. This distinction is not a UK-wide rule and must not be copied to the England and Wales or Scotland pages.

LSANI’s Representation Higher guidance lists Income Support, income-based JSA, income-related ESA, Guarantee Pension Credit and Universal Credit as passport benefits. Check the actual award and whether it covers the resources being assessed. This passport, subject to verification, is not the same as the capital rules for advice and assistance or Representation Lower.

Worked example: ordinary and injury cases

For an ordinary case with assessed annual disposable income of £6,000 and assessed capital of £2,000, the result is Within standard financial limits. The displayed annual income ceiling is £9,937 and the capital review guide is £6,750.

For personal-injury proceedings, the displayed annual income ceiling is £10,955 and the capital review guide is £8,560. With income of £10,000 and capital of £7,000, the entered figures fall within those personal-injury limits. Selecting the ordinary case type changes the result.

Ask your solicitor about the next stage

Your solicitor can explain the appropriate level of service, assess the evidence and make an application. Keep income, benefits, account and property records available, and explain unusual or changing circumstances. Do not dispose of resources to try to alter the assessment.

A within-limits result does not mean free representation or an approved application. Contributions, waiver decisions, case merits and any recovery or statutory charge are not calculated here. An above-limit result should be discussed with the provider where an exception or discretionary rule may apply.

Choose the correct UK jurisdiction

Use the page for the legal system dealing with your case. Each page has its own assessed-resource rules and local application guidance.

For a case governed by England & Wales, use the England & Wales civil legal aid pre-check and follow that jurisdiction’s assessment guidance.

For a case governed by Scotland, use the Scotland civil legal aid pre-check and follow that jurisdiction’s assessment guidance.

Inputs for the Northern Ireland civil legal aid calculator