Reconciliation of standard monthly payments

On this page:

Update protocol for reconciliations
About the reconciliation process
When will it take effect?
Benefits of the new process
Guidance
For more information

Update protocol for reconciliations

The current economic climate is proving to be difficult for some providers. Feedback received shows that whilst many of our providers appreciate the advantages of the reconciliation protocol, having to wait until they are 10% underpaid is causing concern.

We have considered potential solutions to this problem and have decided to amend the reconciliation banding from 90 to 110% to 90 to 105%. Whilst this does mean we will be making more interventions to monthly payments, any increased activity will relate to increases in payments only.

We have discussed our intention with The Law Society, which is supportive of this decision. The banding will change with immediate effect (January 2009 payments) and will be in place for the next six months, after which we will review the position.

We will still undertake a formal review of the operation of the protocol jointly with The Law Society in early December.

If you have any queries about the impact of this on you please contact your Relationship Manager.

About the reconciliation process

Our agreement with The Law Society in Apr 08 included a new protocol for the reconciliation of Standard Monthly Payments (SMP). This was designed to minimise changes to these payments.

The reconciliation process puts into place the protocol set out in the Deed of Settlement.

When will it take effect?

This process begins in Jul 08. However the first reviews take place in Sep 08 when the value of July claims are known. Until then the current process will apply.

Benefits of the new process

These include:

more notice of any change in the level of payments
we’ll no longer be looking to balance a contract at a fixed point of time in the future - we will not be projecting claims forward but will simply look at an actual balance
fewer interventions in the way the contract is operating providing a smoother cashflow for providers.

Guidance

See the guidance document in the documents panel for full details about how the process will work. It contains worked examples and a list of frequently asked questions.

For more information

See Documents for full details and guidance. Please contact your account manager at your local regional office with any questions.

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Last updated: 10 July 2008