What does this announcement mean for you?
Support will be provided where a customer was initially referred by one of the societies to the Will Writing Company/Estate Planning Group/Family Trust Corporation and where Philips Trust Corporation subsequently became a trustee of their trust and remained so at the point of administration, or, as at the date of its administration, Philips Trust Corporation held an investment on behalf of their trust and continues to do so. Support will be directed towards:
- Trusts involving investments: re-establishing 100% of each customer’s Philips Trust Corporation investment balance (i.e. each customer’s Accepted Claim as verified by Kroll, the administrators).
Accepted Claims are verified as part of the Distribution Plan approved by the court on 31st March, 2023. Offers will be valid for 6 months on a full and final basis. In view of the voluntary support, the society will look to ensure that any future recoveries from the investments which become available for distribution will be used to reimburse the society, up to the amount of the voluntary payment made.
- Trusts involving a property: providing up to £2,400 towards the cost of replacing Philips Trust Corporation as trustee and appointing a new trustee.
This is applicable both to customers who have already transferred their trust away from Philips Trust Corporation after the date of the administration and for those customers who have yet to do so. This will be inclusive of any support already provided to customers involving the appointment of new trustees.
- The small number of investment-only trusts: providing a financial contribution towards replacing Philips Trust Corporation as trustee and appointing a new trustee, the cost of which is yet to be determined.
Providing support to members on voluntary basis
Nottingham Building Society never had any relationship with the Philips Trust Corporation, and there is no legal or regulatory responsibility for us to provide support. However, as a mutual building society, we believe it is right to help affected members.
The level of financial support is significant for a building society of our size, so we have considered the needs of all our members as we have moved through this. We believe our voluntary support strikes a balance between those members affected as much as possible in incredibly difficult circumstances, with the needs of our wider membership.
We are also committed, on behalf of members affected, to supporting any initiative that holds the directors of Philips Trust to account. Alongside other building societies, we will consider any further action possible and update members on this.
What happens next?
There are still some complex issues we need to work through, but we will be doing this as quickly as possible. We will be working with Kroll, the administrators, to help us to distribute the payments to the trusts held. There is no action required by customers at this time.
Affected customers will be contacted directly by Kroll with a further update by the end of May. Further updates and information will also appear on these pages of our website.
In the meantime, if you have a question please email us or complete our online enquiry form.