# Get your CCMS case and bill statuses through an API

> Build methods that read case statuses, bills and POAs, and Your Actions and Notifications from CCMS, each returned as JSON from one API call. A workflow can then read each fee earner's notifications every weekday morning and email you the new ones by type.

Page: https://fous.com/automate/ccms
Updated: 2026-11-12

Works with your own CCMS account. Fous is an independent product.

## What you can build on CCMS

### Check case statuses

Searches Cases and Applications for each case reference and reads its status on Search Results, with the Amendment Summary from Case Overview.

- Takes: Case references
- Returns: Case reference, case status, amendment status

### Get bill and POA statuses

Opens the Billing section of a case and reads every bill and payment on account created or submitted there, with its status and dates.

- Takes: Case reference
- Returns: Bill or POA, status, date submitted, date authorised

### Read actions and notifications

Opens Your Actions and Notifications, uses Refine Search by Assigned To and Action/Notification Type, and reads each item opened from its Subject.

- Takes: Assigned to (optional), type (optional), include closed
- Returns: Subject, type, assigned to, case reference, message

### Claim a payment on account of profit costs

Opens a case's Billing link, goes to POA Details, selects Profit Cost, completes the POA Profit Cost Line and submits it to the LAA.

- Takes: Case reference, profit costs incurred to date
- Returns: Case reference, POA status, submission confirmed

## Automate CCMS with a workflow

A [workflow](/product/workflows) runs your methods as one process, with nobody at the screen. A schedule or a call from your own system starts it, the steps run in order, and the result arrives in your inbox or in the systems you already use.

### New actions and notifications, each fee earner

Starts: Every weekday at 8:00

1. For each fee earner you name, read the open items in Your Actions and Notifications.
2. Keep the items that were not there on the last run.
3. Email you the list grouped by Action/Notification Type, with subject and case reference.

### Case status changes, posted to your case management system

Starts: Every weekday at 7:30

1. For each case reference in your list, check the case status and amendment status.
2. Keep the cases whose status changed since the last run, such as Show Cause or Refused.
3. Post case reference, old and new status to your webhook.

### Weekly bill and POA report

Starts: Every Monday at 9:00

1. For each case reference in your list, get the bills and POAs in its Billing section.
2. Keep the ones authorised, rejected or recouped since the last run.
3. Have an AI step group them by status and email you the report.

You can run a workflow by hand on every plan, Free included. Schedules and webhook triggers come with the paid plans, from $29 a month.

## Once built, one call from your code

Once you have built a [method](/product/methods), it is one POST to /v1/runs from your backend, or a tool an AI agent calls over MCP. This is what “Check case statuses” would look like.

Example request:

```
curl https://api.fous.com/v1/runs \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FOUS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "method": "laa-sign-in.external-identity.service.justice.gov.uk/check_case_statuses",
    "input": {
      "case_references": [
        "300000481207",
        "300000479915"
      ]
    }
  }'
```

Example response:

```
{
  "status": "completed",
  "data": {
    "cases": [
      {
        "case_reference": "300000481207",
        "case_status": "Live",
        "amendment_status": "Submitted"
      },
      {
        "case_reference": "300000479915",
        "case_status": "Show Cause",
        "amendment_status": null
      }
    ],
    "count": 2
  }
}
```

An example with invented data, not a ready-made endpoint. The method exists in your organization once you build it, and its name, inputs and fields follow your request.

## CCMS’s own options

The Legal Aid Agency's provider guides describe no API for CCMS. Bills can be sent in bulk as an .xml file exported from your case management system, and monthly Legal Help, Crime Lower and Mediation claims go through the separate Submit a Bulk Claim service. Applications, amendments, case queries, bills and notifications are handled on CCMS's own screens.

| Option | What it covers | What it takes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Bulk claim upload | Bills for CCMS cases: Claim Upload (Pricing Only) validates and prices them, then Claim Upload submits them. | An .xml file exported from your case management system, uploaded through Create General Request. |
| Submit a Bulk Claim | Monthly Legal Help, Crime Lower and Mediation submissions, validated online with fees calculated. | A verified SiLAS account with the Submit a bulk claim app assigned by your firm admin, and a CSV, XML, TXT or .xlsm file. |
| CCMS by hand | Cases and Applications, amendments, case queries, Billing, payments on account and Actions and Notifications. | A SiLAS account with CCMS access given by your firm's administrator, opened in a Secure Browser. |

Read on November 12, 2026: [Bulk claim upload](https://legalaidlearning.justice.gov.uk/bulk-claim-upload/), [Submit a Bulk Claim (SaBC)](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/submit-a-bulk-claim-sabc), [Accessing CCMS in Secure Browser](https://legalaidlearning.justice.gov.uk/ccms-secure-browser/).

## Signing in to CCMS

You open CCMS from Sign in to Legal Aid Services (SiLAS), then sign in again in a Secure Browser window with the same email address, password and multi-factor authentication. SiLAS asks for MFA at every sign-in and again after 12 hours. With Fous you sign in through CCMS's own sign-in with your own account: the login is sealed with AES-256, and code and AI agents never see it.

## Worth knowing

- **The status can change before the notification**: A case's status on CCMS may update before the matching notification reaches Actions and Notifications, so reading Search Results shows a change sooner.
- **Remittance advice goes to the administrator**: Remittance advice arrives weekly as a notification for each fee earner and goes to the firm or chambers administrator. Other users reach it with Refine Search.
- **Payments on account have fixed limits**: You can claim a POA of profit costs 3 months after the certificate is granted, four times in 12 months, paid up to 80%. You enter 100% of costs and must send the supporting documents.
- **Successfully uploaded is not accepted**: A bulk claim marked Successfully uploaded is only ready for validation, and a Rejected claim's reason is in the upload summary attachment. The LAA advises running Claim Upload (Pricing Only) first.

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- [MyHMCTS](https://fous.com/automate/myhmcts.md)
- [eCourts e-Filing](https://fous.com/automate/ecourts-e-filing.md)
- [Money Claim Online](https://fous.com/automate/money-claim-online.md)
- [PACER](https://fous.com/automate/pacer.md)
- [Authorized Paid Representative Portal](https://fous.com/automate/authorized-paid-representative-portal.md)
- [Arbitration Forums](https://fous.com/automate/arbitration-forums.md)
- [CounselLink](https://fous.com/automate/counsellink.md)
- [Legal Tracker](https://fous.com/automate/legal-tracker.md)
- [TyMetrix 360](https://fous.com/automate/tymetrix-360.md)
- [Collaborati](https://fous.com/automate/collaborati.md)
- [MyEPO Portfolio](https://fous.com/automate/myepo-portfolio.md)

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## Frequently asked questions

### Does CCMS have an API?

Not one the Legal Aid Agency publishes for providers. Its guides describe a bulk claim upload instead: an .xml file from your case management system, sent through Create General Request. Monthly Legal Help, Crime Lower and Mediation claims go through Submit a Bulk Claim. Everything else is done on CCMS's own screens.

### How do I check whether a CCMS bill has been authorised?

Open the Billing section of the case. It lists every bill and POA with its status (draft, submitted, under assessment, authorised, rejected or recouped), the date submitted and the date the LAA authorised it. A rejected bill also comes with a notification.

### Where do I find remittance advice in CCMS?

In Your Actions and Notifications. It arrives weekly for each fee earner and goes to the firm or chambers administrator; other users find it through Refine Search, choosing the user in Assigned To.

### Why is CCMS missing from my legal aid services?

Your firm's administrator has to give you access to it in SiLAS. Once they have, it can take up to 30 minutes before you can sign in to CCMS.

### Is Fous affiliated with the Legal Aid Agency?

No. Fous is an independent product. You use it with your own CCMS account, and a method reads and does only what that account can.

Fous is an independent product: it is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by the operator of CCMS (Legal Aid Agency). The name is used only to say which system this page is about. Something here wrong or out of date? Write to legal@fous.com.