Legal Aid may be available for civil cases including things like debt, family or housing problems. Ashford Advice have a legal aid contract for housing, there are a number of firms offering legal aid for other matters, see https://ashfordadvice.org/solicitors.
To get legal aid, you usually need to show you cannot afford to pay for legal costs and your problem is serious. If you receive certain benefits you may be passported through the income means test, but you must still have less than £8000 in disposable capital
Passporting benefits include:
- income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
- Income Support (IS)
- income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
- Universal Credit (UC)
- Guarantee Credit element of Pension Credit (GC)
Your financial situation is not taken into account for cases about:
- mental health tribunals
- children in care
- your child being abducted
You may also have to provide evidence about your problem, for example in a divorce case by providing a court order or GP letter showing that you or your child have been a victim of abuse.
Check if you qualify for legal aid to get help with civil cases.