Sometime ago we were asked about a case where the applicant for Legal Aid, an asylum seeker, relied upon relatives for support. They had kindly offered him a room and fed him. He completed an application and the LSC insisted that his relatives be means assessed, under Reg. 11 (4)*, and they then declared him ineligible. We helped the firm unsuccessfully review this decision (I thought they were cracking reps and bang on the money but the Commission did not and that was the end of it). Uncle and Aunt stood to pay his legal costs.
Today, under LASPO, another LA applicant looks like she is heading in the same direction for answering “Yes” to the following question:
Do you or your partner have the use of a car or any other vehicle owned by someone else?
She has a boyfriend, not “partner” in means assessment terms, who she can rely upon for a lift at a push. Lets see if they accept that explanation or if the boyfriend required to use all his worldly good privately fund her litigation.
*Looks to have been replicated at The Civil Legal Aid (Financial Resources and Payment for Services) Regulations 2013 S. 16 (5)
