Master Trusts for Pets

We have developed an online platform for pet owners to share the costs of veterinary treatment for their pets. Members who join pay a small membership fee plus a share of claims from other members if they occur… This is operated by a non profit community interest company (CIC). The FCA are claiming this is a form of insurance however payments are discretionary and dependent upon the funds we have collected.

To clarify the situation with the FCA I think we can set this up as a trust where the pet owners are a class of beneficiaries. As this is a non profit payments into the trust are capital and no tax would be due as zero investment income i.e. the contributions from the members are equal to the claims we receive the veterinary treatment.

Pet trusts are common in the USA however I am trying to establish if we can do this in UK and in this context the CIC would be the settlor or the trustee ?
Thanks in advance.

Paul Dennis
YouDo Ltd

The beneficiaries appear to be the pets, is this not a purpose trust?

Akilah McEwen
Amphlett Lissimore

Thanks for reply. Yes I think it might be. Where I am confused and using the term master trust is because it would be a single trust with multiple owners paying in for the benefit for the pets ie the payment of vet costs would be discretionary. When a pet needs treatment we calculate how much each pet owner needs to contribute to the trust.
Is that possible ?

Paul Dennis
YouDo Ltd