Personal Injury Trust 'can protect means-tested benefits'

A Personal Injury Trust may be one option for those worried the outcome of an accident claim will jeopardise their right to means-tested welfare support, it has been revealed.

Upon receiving personal injury compensation, the facility can be set up within 52 weeks and - if administered as a discretionary trust with no automatic access for the victim - the fund should not be taken into consideration for state benefits, the Financial Times reports.

This means those filing car accident claims or similar actions may rest assured they will be eligible for support in the same way as other UK citizens, despite receiving interim or lump-sum payments following a personal injury or similar incident that was not their fault.

Such an approach might be beneficial for people such as a boy who recently received £6 million in medical negligence compensation, following suffocation at birth that left him with cerebral palsy and severe disabilities, the Daily Mail reported.

Published by Tessa Jones