is it savings

ALAN.TINY.

My son claims esa and dla, but in 2010 he was involved in a cycling accident , we have been advised that he is to receive £17.500 compensation but the bulk of the payment is for future dental cost, what can we put the bulk of the money into or does it all go as savings, as such will this affect his benifits,

Gleek

If he receives ESA & DLA, would his dental work not be free? Or is it looking further down the line when he may be off those benefits?

Horseunderwater

If he is on Income related ESA then yes it could well affect the ESA, but if he is on Contributions bases ESA then no it won't. DLA not relevant.

rogerblack

In any case - putting the money in an appropriate personal injury trust would protect it from being relevant to any means tested benefit.
It has to go directly into the PI trust - it cannot be placed in trust once you receive it.
The solicitor dealing with this should be able to arrange this.
Plus - if his injuries resulted in the claim of ESA - a significant part of the money may be reclaimed.

bright_side

Gleek wrote: »

If he receives ESA & DLA, would his dental work not be free? Or is it looking further down the line when he may be off those benefits?

I suspect it is for such dental treatments that are not available on the NHS

ALAN.TINY.

As the payment is for future dental treatment we dont know if it would be termed as savings , if so he would loose his benefit then the money which is for future dental treatment would have to be used to live on , we checked directgov but all it says is savings over £16.000 you are not entiteled to benefit but they can't tell us if this would be termed as savings or if we can put it into a trustfund .(benefit office looms I think)

ALAN.TINY.

Been intouch with the lawyer and it seems the cheque has already been sent, can we put it into pi trust once we receive the cheque or should this have been done before it was sent

ALAN.TINY.

his ESA was not as a result of the accident

pmlindyloo

If your son is on income based ESA then the personal injury compensation will be disregarded for 52 weeks.

However, at the end of this time it is possible the sums of money spent during this time will be looked at to see if your son has intentionally deprived himself of this money in order to claim benefits. If they find that he has intentionally deprived himself then the money will be counted as 'notional capital'. He will be deemed to still have it (!) and his ESA will stop.

This is a lot of hassle and you would be advised to keep receipts of any money spent if you decide to put the money into his bank/savings account etc.

By far the simplest way is to set up a Person Injury Trust as already suggested by rogerblack. The money in the trust would not be counted as savings/capital

Here is quite a good link for you to read about it.

http://www.frenkeltopping.co.uk/professionals/files/2013/03/PIT-FAQs-with-index.pdf

I do not believe that it is too late to do this so you should get in touch with your solicitor. Do not put the cheque into any bank/savings account. Be advised what to do by your solicitor.

tomtom256

What future dental treatment does he need? Is this future treatment a result of the accident and if so do you have written proof of it?

If not then it is capital/savings and will affect any means tested benefits.