Interpreter fees are a recoverable disbursement in publicly funded work — but recovery is only as clean as the paperwork behind it. Most queries on assessment are not about whether the interpreter was needed; they are about whether the claim shows it clearly. A little attention at the booking stage prevents most of them.
In short
- Interpreter fees are claimed as a disbursement, on CRM7 in the magistrates' / police-station context and CRM8 for Crown Court litigator graduated fee work.
- The claim is supported by a clear attendance note: who, when, how long, what setting, and the rate.
- Instructing a registered interpreter who provides the note in the right form is the simplest way to protect recovery.
Where interpreter fees sit in a legal aid claim
An interpreter is a disbursement rather than profit costs, which is helpful: a properly evidenced disbursement is recoverable on top of the fee structure for the case. The form depends on the work. Police-station and magistrates' court matters are claimed through the relevant CRM7 route; Crown Court litigator work runs through the CRM8 / litigator graduated fee scheme. In both, the interpreter line needs to be supported, not merely asserted.
What the attendance note should show
The assessing caseworker is checking that the cost was reasonable and actually incurred. An attendance note that answers the obvious questions on its face removes the reason to query it. In practice that means: the interpreter's name and registration, the date, the start and finish times (so the duration is clear), the setting — police station, court, conference, tribunal — and the rate and any minimum charged. If the booking was remote, say so; if a minimum applied, show how it was reached.
Common reasons interpreter costs get queried
The recurring problems are mundane and avoidable. A note that gives a lump sum with no duration invites a query about reasonableness. A booking made for a longer slot than the hearing used, with no explanation of the minimum charge, looks unexplained even when it was entirely proper. And an interpreter whose qualification is not stated leaves the caseworker unable to confirm that an appropriately registered professional was used. None of these is fatal, but each costs time to resolve after the fact.
Why registration helps the claim, not just the hearing
Instructing an NRPSI-registered interpreter does double duty. In the hearing it gives you an assessed, regulated professional. On the claim it gives the caseworker a clean answer to "was this the right person, at a defensible rate?" The registration number, the recognised rate basis and a tidy attendance note together make the disbursement easy to allow.
Practical steps at the booking stage
Confirm three things when you instruct: that the interpreter is registered and will quote the registration number; that they will provide an attendance note suited to CRM7 or CRM8; and that any minimum charge or remote arrangement is agreed in writing up front. With those settled at booking, the claim writes itself, and the disbursement goes through without the back-and-forth that eats unbilled time.
When you instruct directly, the attendance note comes from the person who did the work, in the form your costs draftsman needs — not routed through an agency and reconstructed later.