Building societies scandal: Yorkshire victims reveal shocking stories - and plead for action to be taken

The schemes have since become mired in financial complications linked to the collapse of a firm called Philips Trust Corporation (PTC), which had ended up in charge of the assets.

The Yorkshire Post can today reveal shocking new evidence about the extent of the scandal. Some victims are expected to lose tens of thousands of pounds each while one Yorkshire family have seen £180,000 from their sale of their mother's house disappear entirely. A PTC company director admitted to a court the money had been used to pay other debts.

Greater Manchester Police said last year it was pausing its investigation as the administration process for PTC continues. The force said it would only consider reopening an investigation if administrator Kroll provided the force with potential evidence of criminality.

A GMP spokesperson said today that position remains the same as it believes “the current investigation is the most appropriate course of action”.

The spokesperson said: “Intervention at this stage by GMP is likely to stall the investigatory process. Should the insolvency practitioner discover any evidence of criminality, this will be reported to the police.”

Kroll said its administrators “continue to make themselves available to any and all enforcement authorities concerned” in the “complicated and ongoing” matter.

But members of an action group of victims and their family members told The Yorkshire Post the intended process may come too late for many of the elderly victims, as the administration is due to run into 2026.

There are more than 2,300 victims affected, with £94m worth of properties and £44m of savings caught up in the situation.

Andrea Hindley, from the Philips Trust Action Group, said: “We feel that opportunities will be missed if an investigation isn’t reopened as soon as possible. As the victims of this scandal are all elderly, time is a benefit not afforded to them.”

The call was backed today by Leeds Building Society. A spokesperson said: “We support their call for GMP to reopen a criminal investigation into Philips Trust Corporation and would help police in whatever way we can.”

Yorkshire victims reveal shocking stories - and plead for action to be taken

Mary Ledgard was someone who kept careful track of her money - so much so that she would take fortnightly trips to her local branch of Leeds Building Society to draw out cash as she didn’t like using cards.

So when staff suggested the widow might be interested in discussing a way she could protect her family home in Dewsbury from future care home fees, Mary was keen to find out more.

On July 21, 2014, Mary and her son John went into the branch and were ushered upstairs for a meeting about entering her property into a so-called family trust in a bid to retain the property’s value for him and his brother David.

Neither Mary or John could know that doing so – at a cost of over £3,000 – would ultimately have the exact opposite effect and leave the brothers with nothing from the home’s eventual sale for £180,000 after her death in 2021.

With the fight to get at least some of the money back continuing, John and David have made their first trip back to the family home in years which they believe has been stolen from them to meet The Yorkshire Post.

“It keeps me awake at night,” John says of the situation. “My mum trusted those people at the building society. I feel guilt because I could have stopped it but because it is a building society, you think it has got to be ok.”

David adds: “My mum and dad worked hard all their life to have this house and they were going to leave it to us. We feel like we have been robbed. I just want justice.”

The family’s case is one of the most extreme examples of the ongoing fallout from a £138m national financial scandal affecting thousands of elderly victims who were introduced to unregulated advisers by their building societies.

Customers of building societies including Leeds, Newcastle and Nottingham, as well as several smaller operators, put their homes into trusts and life savings into investment schemes. But now many victims are likely to lose tens of thousands of pounds each.

Victims are sharing their stories publicly for the first time in the hope of pushing regulators, politicians and police into action and getting the building societies involved to accept their part in what has unfolded. They say they only ever entered into the arrangements because of the effective endorsements by the societies, who took commission on sales.

The building societies had relationships with an organisation called the Estate Planning Group which had two associated company arms, The Will Writing Company and the Family Trust Corporation (FTC).

Around 95,000 people were introduced to the Will Writing Company by building societies during the 2000s and 2010s, with 6,500 people going on to take out family trusts with FTC.

Setting up a trust means someone else becomes the legal owner of the assets placed in them with responsibility for what happens to them after the death of the trust-holder. Customers were encouraged to sign up on the basis that doing so would protect their homes from future care home fees so they could eventually be passed onto chosen beneficiaries like family members.

But after The Will Writing Company went into administration in February 2018, documents state FTC was sold in April 2018 to Luxor Wells Limited, a company owned by a man named Richard Wells who became the firm’s sole director.

Mr Wells had established a separate company called Philips Trust Corporation (PTC) in December 2017. FTC clients were advised by the firm to move trusts across to Philips Trust for a fee.

Mr Wells resigned as a PTC director in March 2019. He was subsequently a director of the now-collapsed funeral plan provider Safe Hands, which is the subject of a Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigation.

PTC itself collapsed into administration in 2022. Administrators said it held 2,345 trusts with a collective value of £138m made up of properties and financial investments.

Mrs Ledgard had died in April 2021 and the house was sold in November 2021 for £180,000. The brothers tried and failed to get the money they were owed from PTC but couldn’t do so before the firm entered administration in April 2022.

A court statement by its then sole director Kay Collins revealed three properties – subsequently confirmed to include the Ledgards – had been sold for a collective £800,000 with the money used to repay other parties as opposed to going back to its rightful owners. Ms Collins said in her statement that she felt she had “no choice” but to do so in an attempt to stave off the company’s illiquidity issues.

While administrator Kroll has agreed efforts to recover money from the sale of Mrs Ledgard’s home will continue, a recent update dealt a blow to the brothers’ hopes.

Of the £44m of invested savings with PTC that had been placed with four investment management companies, capital recoveries of £8.2m had been due in December. However, Kroll has only received £1.1m.

A friend of John Ledgard, David Compston, previously a senior regulation manager for Royal Mail who has been assisting the brothers with their case, said the update means it is “not looking good” for the return of money at the end of the administration, due in 2026.

Other victims have been more fortunate than the Ledgards and over 340 of the 447 properties held by PTC have now been returned to owners. But those involved have had to pay £2,400 each to Kroll for recoveries.

Meanwhile, those who invested savings now say they expect to lose most or even all of what they put in.

Retired civil engineer Roger Hall was introduced to advisers at the Dinnington branch of Nottingham Building Society. Mr Hall put a second property he has in Scarborough into a trust along with around £130,000 in savings. While the property was recovered, he fears the savings will be lost.

Mr Hall wants compensation from the Nottingham. "In my opinion there has been misselling going on. I got involved because it was the building society.

"They knew this industry was unregulated but helped sell these trusts to honest, decent people. That is disgusting.”

Another affected family is one whose mother signed her property into trust after being introduced to advisers via the Newcastle Building Society branch in Stokesley.

Her son, who did not wish to be named said his mother had subsequently ended up in a care home for two years before her death in December 2022.

While the property had been due to transfer to PTC, the move never went through – making it easier for a solicitor to get the property’s title returned.

He said unpicking the situation delayed resolving how his mother's care home fees would be paid for. While the trust did ultimately partially protect his mother’s estate from some care home costs, he said the uncertainty had been hard to deal with.

"It has worked out now but it has been three to four years of so much worry. I wish we had never got involved with it as we would have been happy to sell the house and pay for her care. For all the stress it caused my and my sister, we wish we had left it alone.”

That sentiment is one that is very much shared by John Ledgard.

“All of the victims are all elderly, vulnerable people that were approached by their building society. It is like they were targeted. My mum and dad bought that house in 1963. It feels like they have been robbed.”

Financial Conduct Authority ‘looking’ at building societies over issue – but no investigation ordered

The Financial Conduct Authority has revealed it is “looking” at building societies linked to the scandal – but is yet to order a full investigation into their role.

The FCA said last year it was “monitoring” the situation but stressed the unregulated nature of the services which had been provided and advised affected people to contact their building societies and the Financial Ombudsman Service with complaints.

After being contacted by The Yorkshire Post in regards to the new victims that have come forward publicly, the FCA has now issued a new statement which reveals it is assessing the situation “and will provide further information as soon as we can”.

A spokesperson said: “We understand the challenge facing customers and their families in relation to the administration of the Philips Trust Corporation.

“We have been looking at a number of building societies who referred customers to the Estate Planning Group, including the Will Writing Company and the Family Trust Corporation.

“Referrals to estate planning companies by building societies are largely unregulated activities. However, we are clarifying exactly what happened and will provide further information as soon as we can.”

Last year, SNP MP Peter Grant raised the Philips Trust case in Parliament and alleged the regulatory framework to protect vulnerable victims had “utterly failed”.

Leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt described the matter as an “extremely disturbing and important case” and said she would be raising it with the Chancellor and Business Secretary.

Some victims are also attempting to get the Financial Ombudsman Service to investigate complaints about building societies involved.

One are a couple from County Durham, who did not wish to be named. They put their home in trust and then subsequently invested around £50,000 in savings as a consequence of a Leeds Building Society introduction to advisers.

While the home has been recovered from trust, they say they expect to lose all of their savings.

"We almost accepted at an early stage that our hard-earned savings have gone. The whole situation has had an incredible impact on who we trust.”

It has been confirmed in writing by LBS that it received 15 per cent commission of net fees paid for wills and trusts from advisers at the time they signed up in 2015.

The couple are awaiting a response to whether their complaint will be investigated by the Ombudsman.

They say LBS failed to disclose details such as the commission agreement, which they argue would have had an impact on their decision-making process.

They say they would never have become involved with the advisers if it wasn’t for LBS’s part in the matter.

"We were sitting in an LBS branch, with LBS staff around us and the whole environment gave a degree of legitimacy to it. This wasn’t someone we met in the pub.”

The FOS did not wish to comment.

What the building societies say in response

The three main building societies linked to the scandal have acknowledged the distress of affected customers but also distanced themselves from the problems that have occurred.

A Leeds Building Society spokesperson said: “What has happened to customers is very upsetting and we’re deeply saddened by the impact it is having on our members and their families.

“We support their call for Greater Manchester Police to reopen a criminal investigation into Philips Trust Corporation and would help police in whatever way we can.

“We introduced members to The Will Writing Company between 2005 and 2017 and any advice given by The Will Writing Company, or its associated company Family Trust Corporation, was independent of the Society and was not shared with us.

“When The Will Writing Company went into administration in 2018, we understand that Philips Trust Corporation took over parts of its business and that PTC wrote directly to affected customers to inform them of this ownership change – the Society was not involved in the transfer process.

“Leeds Building Society never had a relationship with Philips Trust Corporation or any influence over it.

“We will continue to monitor the administration process and the impact it is having on our members.”

A Nottingham Building Society spokesperson said: “We have been closely following developments in the Philips Trust case. From 2011 to 2017 we had a referral agreement with the Will Writing Company, and we referred a number of customers to them for support and advice with writing wills and in some cases putting property and savings into trusts. We had no links at all to the Philips Trust company but even so, a number of our customers were moved to the Philips Trust company when The Will Writing Company went into administration.

“We recognise this continues to be a very difficult and upsetting matter for those of our customers who have been affected and have been concerned to hear of the implications for those customers. We have been in contact with some of those customers and have met with some to fully understand their situations. We want to understand the impact on our customers, which unfortunately is not straightforward as we had no direct relationship with Philips Trust.

“We are currently reviewing the situation to assess the impact of the ongoing Philips Trust administration process on our customers, and how we may be able to provide support. Like others, we stand ready to support any investigations into Philips Trust Corporation in whatever way possible to provide a resolution for all those affected.”

A Newcastle Building Society spokesperson said: “Newcastle Building Society previously acted only as an introducer to The Will Writing Company Limited who provided estate planning advice to our customers. We will have received a fee from The Will Writing Company in the event that a customer entered into a contractual relationship with them for their estate planning needs.

“The Will Writing Company ceased trading in November 2017 and subsequently entered administration in February 2018. The Society’s relationship with The Will Writing Company ended at this point.

“In the months following the collapse of The Will Writing Company, it became clear that a sister company - The Family Trust Corporation - were introducing some customers to The Philips Trust Corporation who, in turn, were suggesting that customers agree to appoint Philips Trust Corporation as trustees.

“At no point have Newcastle Building Society had any involvement with the Philips Trust Corporation.

“We know this series of events has been a source of distress for a number of people.

“When The Will Writing Company ceased trading we arranged for a heavily discounted trustee reassignment service to be provided by an independent third party which gave customers an option to move away from corporate trustees and appoint alternative trustees, such as family members, in their place. A number of our customers took up this service. We continue to respond to all related queries on a case-by-case basis and understand Kroll Advisory Ltd have been communicating with all affected customers in their capacity of administrators of the Philips Trust Corporation.”

Attempts to reach Mr Wells and Ms Collins from the now-collapsed Philips Trust Corporation company for comment were unsuccessful.