Hi Jamie12

I can't see any reason or way the Trustee could claim an interest. The insurance is there to replace goods which were stolen. These goods were not regarded as assets within the Trust Deed and therefore the Trustee cannot claim an interest in the funds as the purpose of the payment is to replace these.

Mark

Thanks Mark, that's what I thought.

Is it right though that the insurance company took it upon themselves to contact my IP, I would have thought that was my responsibility.

I had already told them about this and initially they didn't think they would have any interest but are now double checking.

Hi Jamie

I've found that most companies will adopt this approach just to be sure.

Shouldn't be a problem. As you say the burglary alone is stress enough, never mind the uncertainty of it paying out.

I hope it all works out for you.

Mark

Hi Jamie,
The insurance is there so that you are placed in the same position as you were before the loss, id be staggered if you then lost out further by having to pay anything to your TD.
I work in insurance and id be really interested to hear the outcome of this.
Hope it all goes ok, I would be complaining if you had to make any payment to TD on settlement of claim.
All the best

Thanks for posting Hamish.

I'm sure this will be fine jamie12. I think the insurer is probably just following a procedure to protect themselves.

UPDATE
Thanks to everyone to contributed so far.

Found out today that one of the items that was stolen, a 10 year old Omega watch, is now of interest to the trustee. They claim that I should have made them aware of this at the start of the trust deed but things like this were never mentioned to me when I sat down with the representative from the trustee.

The watch originally cost just over £1,600 of which my parents paid £1,000 as a gift when it was purchased. The trustee is saying that the watch is now worth over £2000 and as such they have an interest in it.

If anyone can help me sort out this mess I would really appreciate it. I told my parents and they are now saying that they want their share of the contribution back.

I have never said that I am looking for cash as a replacement, in fact I would be happy to have a replacement watch back.

Hi jamie12

I can see the Trustee's point, although I think this is a bit harsh. I wonder if engagement rings etc should now be classed as assets?

I'm not sure how or why the Trustee can value the watch as the value will be equal to the figure the insurance pay out on this. Unfortunately if your parents gifted this, then they can have no claim on it.

I think the final decision will lie with the Trustee on this.

Mark

Hi Jamie12,

I do know that this was discussed with the Accountant in Bankruptcy at one of our asset realisation training sessions with them and they advised that they were requesting copies of home insurance certificates and supporting documentation to establish if someone had valuable assets listed on this in some cases. I've been advised of a case where approx £8,000 of jewellery was recovered and sold because of this.

I think it's something that is going to be decided by the opinion of your own Trustee. Maybe you could argue that you were never asked this information so didn't feel it was relevant to discuss it.

Hi Mark and David.

Wouldn't it be normal to ask a question about other assets during the fact-finding process?

I know that we're normally talking about houses and cars but I would have thought most firms would still ask a broader question just in case?

Hi TDA

Yes, it's pretty standard to be honest, however you could get to a point where you say to people do you really need your Grandma's wedding ring when you already have another ring or asking someone who is paying £700 a month rent to move and reduce this to £450 as you have an identical case who is paying that amount

Like most things, it's all about balance.

Mark

So if you get a piece of jewellery as a gift and lose it the Trustees can claim an interest in this?

Would this be the same as an engagement ring then? I know how much was paid and how much the insurance value is but obviously I never bought the ring - it was given to me but is worth quite a bit?

Opening a whole can of worms! Might not wear it now in case it gets lost!!! [:(!]

It's not the fact of it getting lost that is important. It's the value of the asset itself.

If it is of significant value then your Trustee has an interest in it. All trustees that I am aware of have ignored asking about wedding/engagement rings specifically but a good number will check insurance certificates for assets that are valuable enough to have been insured seperate from the standard household goods.

I got engaged half way through my TD so would my Trustee have an interest in it? I was asked at the beginning of my TD if I had an assets like jewellery (which I didn't).

VOR - so my Trustee wouldn't have an interest in it then?

Hi Neverendingstory.

There's never been a thread that I can remember here about engagement or wedding rings.

As Voice of Reason explained there's a technical side to this and a practical side. Looks like most trustees err on the side of practicality.