Welcome to the trust deed forum gmcginty83.

PIP does count towards your income, so you should certainly make your trustee aware of this award.

Of course PIP is made available to people who have additional needs and therefore additional costs. I'd suggest that you prepare before speaking to your trustee so that you're ready to explain what those additional costs are for you.

Any extra justifiable expenditure could help to offset the increase in your total income.

There's no black or white answer to your question, it's really going to come down to whatever you and your trustee can agree.

Thanks for the reply TDA. I did speak to them a few weeks back but they couldn't give me a definitive or straight answer to the question. One person I spoke with said it is not taking into consideration then another said it is so I am in limbo with it. I'll reach out to them again after the weekend and try and find out. Thanks.

H gmcginty83. Your trustee cannot ask you to make payment from your PIP into your Trust Deed, as benefits cannot be sought as a contribution.

However, the level of PIP you receive is taken into account as part of your income when calculating what you can afford to pay from your earned income. As such it is possible that the effect of starting to receive PIP will be that the contribution your trustee asks for from you is higher.

If you have extra costs associated with your disability, then you should make sure these are being taken account of when your trustee is assessing your budget.

Thank you both for your replies. I geared my self up for a long conversation with my trustee this morning. The conversation lasted 5 minutes and was told nothing needs to change and I can keep my whole benefit and back dated payment as long as my take home pay from work has not changed since my last review, which it hasn't. Had to send them the reward letter to confirm the benefit.

Eagerly waiting a phone call now that they have the documents for them to back track and ask for money. However 3 times I have spoken to them about this and 3 times they said not to worry and no changes are needed. So I will I refuse it going forward. Thanks again for the advice.

A pleasure to help you with this gmcginty83.

Hopefully you'll hear nothing further and can carry on as normal without any changes.

Result!

I am surprised at this - mine has attempted to include my child’s disability living alllowance in my payment. It’s

Hi Penny1286.

All of someone's income will be taken into account.

The question really is whether the additional costs associated with a situation have also been taken into account. PIP and DLA are paid because people are likely to have additional needs and costs. The actual extra costs should be factored into your expenditure allowances.