Personal Injury Trust

Parva

Following on from my earlier post in this group, after a recent court battle I've been awarded a sizeable amount of compensation. I've been advised to deposit this money into a trust fund and having read up on this I understand it all, almost.

Now I realise that the best course of action when paying out a sum of money from that account is for the two trustees to agree and sign the cheque, to pay for a holiday for example.

I understand why it's better not to mix funds from the trust account with my own current account as the onus would then be on me to prove that whatever I deposited had been used responsibly for my needs and not gambled away at a casino or something.

So finally, the question. Say I saw a fridge / freezer in Currys for £400 and needed this for my new house (when I get one). If I were using a debit or credit card I could pay there and then and just walk away with the item (not that that would be easy with a big fridge).

Is it possible to have the trustees make a cheque out for the value of an item, deposit it in my bank and then use the debit card for my bank to pay for the item? If I have to pay by cheque and await 4-5 days for clearance and then arrange delivery then so be it but I can see this being a pain. I do a lot of my electrical goods shopping online and this would be impossible (or very difficult) using cheques.

Just wondered if anyone else has come across this? Thanks.

DomRavioli

You need to ask someone who is qualified in this area of law - this will be down to the specific terms of YOUR trust, and although people may be able to offer their advice, it may not reflect anything you get in the future.

There have been instances in the past where this was permissible, but it is completely and wholly dependent on the exact terms of your future trust - you need to discuss it with whoever is arranging this, so they can make provisions for this in the agreement.

Parva

Cheers Dom, I'll be sure to look in to this.

nobby1963

Hi Parva,
Just to say that you may be very surprised at who the signatories of your PI Trust can be ......

It is not necessarily the situation that they are going to be that distant from you.

Nobby.