Legal aid helps with the costs of legal advice for people who can't afford it. If you need help with the costs of legal advice, you can apply for legal aid. Whether you will receive it depends on:
Legal aid is available for many types of civil legal problem. A civil legal case is one in which you have a dispute with a person, company or other organisation. For example, a civil problem can be to do with your:
When you visit your adviser, you should take evidence of your income with you, if you can. For example, if you're:
People in receipt of income support, guaranteed pension credit or
income based jobseekers allowance are automatically eligible for
legal aid; but you will have to provide proof of your benefit
entitlement.
If you are not automatically eligible because you do not receive the
benefits detailed above you can use our legal aid calculator to see
whether you could get legal aid for a civil case.
If you have been charged with a crime and want to know if you could
get legal aid in the courts, speak to a solicitor who specialises in
criminal law. You can use our
directory to find one. For criminal cases, you will need to go
through a means test. The website of the Legal Services Commission
contains more information about means testing.
Legal Aid Calculator
Community Legal
Advice website
Peterborough CAB has a dedicated debt, housing and welfare rights
service with specially trained staff who are able to offer free,
confidential and impartial advice to those with financial problems,
problems with housing issues or benefits problems. If you are
eligible for legal aid our staff are skilled specialist advisers who
will be able to assess your financial situation and present you with
the options that are appropriate in your specific circumstances.
If you need help from us, your first step is to visit our ‘get
advice’ page.
Peterborough CAB offers a legal aid service for qualifying civil cases.
Please read though this page for full details.
