What is a Personal Injury Trust?

The after-effects of an accident causing serious injury can be felt for a lifetime, its impact invasive and long-lasting.

These injuries may call for life-changing, ongoing care, rehabilitation and support. This can be catered for through a claim for personal injury compensation.

But what happens when the compensation is secured? This is where a personal injury trust is utilised.

What is a personal injury trust?

This is an account which is created to allow compensation to be held for the ongoing care and support for a person suffering from serious, life-changing injuries.

Crucially, the money in this account is not taken into consideration should you need to claim certain state benefits, like Income Support, Jobseekers Allowance and/or Housing Benefits, all of which are means-tested.

How does it work?

The account that is set up and designated as your personal injury trust must be separate from your personal finances and will need to be arranged by more than one trustee. The trustees appointed will then need to agree to every release of funds.

Who can be a trustee?

Usually trustees are the person involved in the accident, who has been directly impacted by suffering a serious injury, and their partner or spouse. However, it could also be a parent or a specially trained solicitor. The latter could, for example, be appointed if the claim involves a child.

How could Winns help with a personal injury trust?

Our team would put you in contact with experts in personal injury trust creation, ensuring everything is in place for when compensation is awarded.

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