Nationwide alert as ‘lifeline’ accounts suddenly blocked ‘without warning’ leaving Brits ‘cut off’
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NATIONWIDE has issued an alert as "lifeline" accounts are suddenly blocked "without warning" leaving Brits "cut off". It is just one of the many British banks scrapping trust accounts - whereby people can appoint a third party to manage their finances for them.
![[Nationwide has frozen funds in customers' trust accounts, the Guardian has been told]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/branch-nationwide-building-society-westerham-958980780.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
These are an important resource for disabled people and people with learning difficulties - as it allows their money to be safely handled by an appointed trustee. Often, the funds - which do not affect a person's status when it comes to means testing and are eligible for tax relief - are used for crucial care expenses.
![[Nationwide is in the process of phasing out trust accounts]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/people-walk-nationwide-building-society-959227356.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
The accounts are also used by victims awarded personal injury settlements - allowing them to keep and administer compensation from a personal injury without affecting their eligibility for means-tested benefits. Trust accounts have been gradually phased out by high street banks and building societies since Covid - with Nationwide the latest to follow suit.
Companies have blamed the cost of running the accounts, as well as the stringent laws surrounding them. Nationwide account holders have now been blocked from accessing crucial funds without warning, while the building society prepares to close trust accounts for good, the Guardian understands.
One man, James Trotman, claimed £28,000 held in his disabled son's account had been frozen without warning, leaving him cut off from his own money. He said Nationwide had instructed him to re-submit verifying paperwork in order to access the funds - but that a month after doing so, the account remained frozen.
