Long or Complex Attendances: Escape Fees and Time Recording
When an attendance runs many hours (multiple interviews, substantial disclosure, or long waiting) your note becomes billing evidence for an escape fee claim. This scenario guide explains how to record time and complexity so assessors can follow your claim.
When a matter may escape the fixed fee
Police station work is usually paid on a fixed fee. From 22 December 2025, a matter escapes when profit costs at hourly rates exceed the £650 escape threshold (excluding VAT); the claim is the £320 fixed fee plus the excess over £650. That calculation depends entirely on your time records: travel, waiting, consultation, interview, and any other attendance time recorded in six-minute units.
Recording time by activity
Don't record a single block like "6 hours at station." Break down each stage with start and end times. Waiting time is billable but often under-recorded because reps forget to restart the clock when interviews finally begin.
- Travel to station: departure and arrival
- Waiting, with brief reason (OIC unavailable, interview room delay)
- Disclosure review, if separately identifiable
- Consultation: each significant consultation if multiple
- Interview, including breaks inside interview
- Post-interview advice and representations
- Travel return
Narrative supporting complexity
Escape claims are queried when time looks inflated. Your narrative should explain why the attendance was unusually long: multiple suspects, voluminous disclosure, interpreter, medical delays, or several interviews. Facts, not adjectives.
Same-day export and firm handover
Long attendances are often the ones typed up days later with lost detail. Contemporaneous structured recording, ideally exported to the firm the same night, protects both the file and the billing claim.
Frequently asked questions
Can I round all time to the nearest hour?
Legal aid billing uses six-minute units. Rounding everything to hours creates discrepancies against CRM submissions and weakens audit defence. Record actual times and round consistently per contract rules.
Does waiting time count?
Yes, when it forms part of the attendance and is recorded. Note why you were waiting. Assessors challenge unexplained waiting.
Should escape potential affect how I write the note?
Write the same complete note regardless of fee type. Escape is an outcome of accurate recording, not a reason to inflate narrative. Incomplete notes fail escape claims even when the work was genuinely done.
Structure every attendance from the first call-out.
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