Personal injury compensation- advice on bank

el4

Hi all, 

I'm recently received compensation due to a crash, however I was forced onto benefits and im currently not fit to return to work. i understand there are only two PI trust accounts, which are with Cater Allen and Metro bank. 

I am undieced and can't find much information on them. im aware both only protect £85k and benefits are only protected for 52 weeks. 

Metro Bank charge £150 to open an account and they have physical banks i can go into, aswell as online banking. Cater Allen dont have a fee but theyre purley online only and with a chequebook.

Has anyone had experience with either or knows anyone who has? i want to be pointed in the right direction and if I've missed anything.  
 i've tried asking my solicitor but they say they can't help me choose/ have to stay mutual.

DullGreyGuy

el4 said:

i've tried asking my solicitor but they say they can't help me choose/ have to stay mutual.

Your solicitors arent likely to be a mutual and certainly shouldn't be neutral. 

They however aren't licensed to give financial advice so cannot recommend one FS company over the other. Barclays used to offer trustee accounts that were suitable for PIT but had heard they were closed for new business; Allen Carter have periodically closed for new business too but guess they are currently open. 

Presumably you don't already use either for any other purpose which may influence your decision?

el4

DullGreyGuy said:

el4 said:

i've tried asking my solicitor but they say they can't help me choose/ have to stay mutual.

Your solicitors arent likely to be a mutual and certainly shouldn't be neutral. 

They however aren't licensed to give financial advice so cannot recommend one FS company over the other. Barclays used to offer trustee accounts that were suitable for PIT but had heard they were closed for new business; Allen Carter have periodically closed for new business too but guess they are currently open. 

Presumably you don't already use either for any other purpose which may influence your decision?

No I don't use either. I'm just unsure on who to go with and what's the safest option. I dont think theres much between them. I just wanted to hear what others think about them and their experiences.

HillStreetBlues

el4 said:

I am undieced and can't find much information on them. im aware both only protect £85k and benefits are only protected for 52 weeks. 

Just checking you mean 52 weeks unless put into a trust.
I've not read about anyone opening a PIT of late.

DullGreyGuy

If your main concern is insolvency and so reliance on the FSCS then you can look at the relative stress testing against each of the banks. The "problem" with stress testing is the realism of the disaster scenario they are using and if a bank has a particular exposure to an unorthodox risk that the PRA nor them have realised. 

Most stress tests are a series of simultanious events of low probability, I do insurance rather than banking but for us the PRA define it as a 1 in 200 year event. The problem is for an annuity provider this may be a 30% crash in investment returns, a 25% increase in longevity improvements and inflation triples. All painful things and together a nightmare, however find an insurer that specialises in annuities that cover those working in nuclear, high EMR, Asbestos workers etc, the general scenarios would pale into insignificance -v- the disaster, for them, of a universal cure for cancer. 

el4

HillStreetBlues said:

el4 said:

I am undieced and can't find much information on them. im aware both only protect £85k and benefits are only protected for 52 weeks. 

Just checking you mean 52 weeks unless put into a trust.
I've not read about anyone opening a PIT of late.

If you're on benefits and receive PI compensation it will need to go into a trust. This gives individuals 52weeks as a legal binding agreement where the compensation held by the trustees is protected. 

So benefits are affected if you have more than £6k in your bank. A trust allows for all your money to be safe for upto 52 weeks or until you spend it.

Spoonie_Turtle

el4 said:

HillStreetBlues said:

el4 said:

I am undieced and can't find much information on them. im aware both only protect £85k and benefits are only protected for 52 weeks. 

Just checking you mean 52 weeks unless put into a trust.
I've not read about anyone opening a PIT of late.

If you're on benefits and receive PI compensation it will need to go into a trust. This gives individuals 52weeks as a legal binding agreement where the compensation held by the trustees is protected. 

So benefits are affected if you have more than £6k in your bank. A trust allows for all your money to be safe for upto 52 weeks or until you spend it.

No that's totally wrong.  Where you did you get that from?

Personal Injury Payments are disregarded for up to 52 weeks/1 year unless spent sooner, or unless put into a trust in which case they are disregarded indefinitely.

Sources: DMG Chapter 52 (for legacy benefits) https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/654108ff1f1a600010360b31/dmgch52.pdf
ADM Chapter H2 (for UC) https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/654111fb1f1a60000d360b54/admh2.pdf

HillStreetBlues

Also  the 52 weeks starts from any interim payments (if you had any)