When I settle my claim will I lose my benefits?
January 15, 2011 at 10:23 AM
A big concern for personal injury claimants receiving state and local authority benefits is whether they will lose those benefits when their claim settles, as their damages will take them over the qualifying capital limit.
There is, however, a way around this problem.
A Personal Injury Trust is a perfectly legal mechanism used to ensure that people awarded damages in a personal injury claim, may continue to receive their benefits.
Putting the damages in trust for the claimant means that the value of the trust is ignored for the assessment of eligibility to most means tested state and local authority benefits.
A solicitor should always advise a client of the availability of a Personal Injury Trust before their claim settles. This is the case even if a client is not currently receiving means tested benefits, as the client's circumstances may change at some point.
The cost of setting up the trust is usually modest, particularly when compared to the potential financial benefit to the claimant.
One of our team will always be happy to discuss Personal Injury Trusts with you.