A Personal Injury Trust is a way of ring-fencing the compensation you receive following an accident or injury, separating any funds from your current account or savings known as your ‘capital’.

This prevents the money you are awarded from being taken into consideration when your finances are assessed. This can include claims for income-support, if you are going through divorce proceedings or your eligibility for publicly-funded care, if you become unable or too unwell to look after yourself, for example.

Put simply, a trust offers security against many of life’s uncertainties.

There are a number of reasons why you should consider creating a trust, including:

• If you or your partner are in receipt of any means-tested benefits that could be impacted by having large sums of money in your current or savings account, including:
  • Income Support.
  • Housing Benefit.
  • Council Tax Benefit.
  • Jobseeker’s Allowance.
• If you are the parent or carer of a child under the age of 18 who has suffered an accident or injury.
• If you are the parent or carer of someone who has suffered an accident or injury to the brain and is unable to manage their finances.

You will need a minimum of two nominated trustees (but no more than four), who are over the age of 18 and deemed capable of fulfilling their responsibilities. We’d advise having three trustees, as this ensures that decisions are always made as a majority.

You will also need a bank account or building society to hold the funds, but you do not yet need to have the money available to place within the trust.

A trust can be established before you receive any compensation – and we’d actually advise setting it up before you are due any payments, to avoid claims of ‘mixing’.

Because a Personal Injury trust crosses many aspects of legislation, from personal injury to probate, it is advised that you seek the guidance of an experienced legal firm to assist you.

Here at Harding Evans, we can advise you on a range of aspects relating to creating and managing a Personal Injury trust, including whether a trust is appropriate for your financial circumstances, appointing trustees and the paperwork associated with establishing a trust.

So, if you’re thinking a Personal Injury trust might be suitable for you, there really is no time like the present! Speak to one of our expert team today to find out how we can help.