David's story

My name is David. I’m 52 years old and live with my wife, Lesley, and ‘Bernie’ our very affectionate and inquisitive Jack Russell. I was involved in a serious accident at work in 2005 and broke my back and suffered an acquired brain injury.

My solicitor introduced Ian Rowe to me in 2009. This was initially in respect of state benefits advice relating to mortgage support.

Ian was able to discuss with us the advantages and workings of a personal injury trust, explaining how this would protect our entitlements in a manner that was easy to understand. He dealt with all of our initial concerns relating to the trust, which was, at that time, an unknown entity. After talking things through with Ian, we were sure that a Trust was the best way forward for us.

Ian came to visit us at our previous home which was unsuitable for my needs. I was heavily dependent on Lesley for support and I could see that this was taking its toll on Lesley’s health and well-being. Lesley, at the time, needed to manage my needs round-the-clock as well as run the home. There was simply no opportunity for Lesley to pursue her own interests, nor did I have much opportunity to escape the confines of my room.

Ian was instrumental in securing Local Authority care funding and guided us through the complicated processes and regulations. He was able to keep the care assessment on track despite the Local Authority's best efforts to delay or avoid providing much needed support. Each year since, Ian has been on hand when the Local Authority has tried to reduce its level of input, without following the rules, to get things back on track. With Ian’s input we have managed to retain the level of support to which we are entitled and our stress and anxiety over the assessment process has been reduced by the pragmatic approach Ian adopts and the knowledge he is able to share.

Since the conclusion of my personal injury claim, I have been able to spend my damages making my life better; particularly by being able to get on with buying and adapting our new home. But a once-and-for-all final settlement gave rise to many new concerns. We had had no experience of managing a large sum of money and it was clear that we would need to remain in our previous home until such time as our new home had been adapted to meet my needs. Ian was able to ensure that for the period of time it was necessary to own both properties neither led to a disentitlement of means-tested support.

The range of decisions that needed to be made at that time seemed overwhelming. However, Ian was able to prioritise the decisions that needed to be made immediately and was able to ensure that the award was safe from the risk of bank insolvency; at the time the current temporary enhanced protection of compensation funds did not exist. This allowed us time to make decisions only after fully considering the options available to us and being confident in the agreed way forward.

The advice provided was understandable, logical, addressed our concerns and highlighted issues, together with solutions, that we had not previously thought about. Ian ensured that the right external experts were available to advise us in relation to our Wills and property ownership in addition to establishing the Trust’s investment portfolio.

Financially, life post-settlement has become more predictable and Ian visits with us each year to discuss the portfolio, how it has performed and how our objectives may have changed. Ian always goes through the affordability of our current spending, so that we have the peace of mind of being able to live for today without selling our financial future down the river.

We have confidence in our financial security and understand our financial plan, allowing us to focus on the other aspects of life.

Ian manages our financial world so we don’t have to worry about it and the advice given has enabled us to make the best of our circumstances.

I am Jack's Mum and Court of Protection appointed Deputy. Jack has cerebral palsy, which has a profound impact on every aspect of his daily life.
My name is Amy and I am now 24. I have cerebral palsy, which I why I can’t talk or walk. This often means people don’t realise I am otherwise a normal human being.

Testimonials