Peter Thompson QC examines yet another casualty of LASPO
Until the implementation of LASPO (the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012) legal aid was available for advice on debt and welfare benefits subject to financial eligibility. At this level of income the two often go together when, for example, housing benefit, income support or tax credits are suspended and replaced by a demand for repayment of last year’s money. The benefit position can be sorted out and corrected over time but meanwhile there is the rent to pay. Credit card borrowing creeps up to max, credit rating plummets and the debt-collectors lay siege. This is when free legal advice is needed: without it ordinary life is no longer sustainable; it is time to visit the food bank.
This is a desperately worrying situation for ordinary people who have not been profligate, just unlucky. To get straight again they need advice on two fronts: (i) asserting the relevant welfare rights; and (ii) keeping the unsecured creditors at bay: this can be done either by negotiating time to pay or by disputing
