Compensation Protection Trusts
If you have received money or compensation as a result of an accident or injury, our compensation protection lawyers can provide specialist advice to ensure that any compensation payment that you receive for a personal injury or in respect of a claim for clinical negligence is protected. It may be beneficial to create a Compensation Protection Trust, otherwise known as a ‘Personal Injury Trust’.
If you are in receipt of means-tested benefits and receive a compensation payment, this may result in your means-tested benefits being reduced or stopped altogether. Paying your compensation into a Compensation Protection Trust can ensure that your entitlement to means-tested benefits is not affected. The effect of the Trust is that the compensation payment will be disregarded in the assessment of your entitlement to means-tested benefits.
A Compensation Protection Trust can also ensure that your compensation is not taken into account in any assessment of your contribution to the cost of your care fees should you ever require long term care.
Compensation Protection Trusts are different to Trusts for Vulnerable Persons or Disabled Person’s Trusts, more detail about which can be found here.
Recent experience
Being appointed by the Official Solicitor as trustee of two trusts set up to hold exceptional compensation awards made by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority to a disabled young lady with significant care needs. Working with the family, case manager, deputy and investment managers to ensure that the young lady receives all financial help from the public purse, that the trust funds is invested to best provide for her substantial care and other needs going forward and that her care is delivered and best interests promoted as efficiently as possible.
Advising a young man who had suffered a gunshot injury to the head whilst on active service in Afghanistan. Advising in relation to the protection of his compensation received from the Armed Forces Compensation Protection Scheme and wider estate planning issues.
Advising the joint deputies of a young man who had suffered a brain injury at birth. Advising in respect of their application to be appointed as deputies and further in respect of an application to the Court of Protection for approval of the joint purchase of a home for the family using a combination of the deputies’ own funds and part of the compensation awarded to the young man on conclusion of a claim for clinical negligence.
Acting as professional deputy for a young man living with foetal valproate syndrome and suffering from a range of problems affecting his daily life. Working with other professional advisers to ensure that his clinical negligence award is managed in his best interests and further working with the client’s family and relevant agencies to ensure that his needs are met.
