Before Selling Structured Settlements What You Need To Know
Posted On Tuesday, December 21, 2010 at at 11:47 AM by Lord SylarAs we now know what structured settlement is, its advantages and disadvantages, lets move to another part - selling. Well, selling structured settlement is not a funny thing. This matter should be dealt with utmost care and caution. But there are some things to know even before considering the advantage and disadvantages of selling it.
In United States of America, 2/3 of the states(more than 40) made laws restricting selling structured settlements. Also, some companies discourage selling these settlements. They just don't allow anything involving third party brokers. They do it for their own interest. Sometimes to have a grip on consumers and sometimes to maintain their own reputation.
So, selling your structured settlement might not be possible. Before making a decision to sell a settlement, please check where you live and the local law. Sometimes even if you are able to sell it, you'll have to follow the rules/laws set by local authority.
So, selling your structured settlement might not be possible. Before making a decision to sell a settlement, please check where you live and the local law. Sometimes even if you are able to sell it, you'll have to follow the rules/laws set by local authority.
By now if you have a structured settlement, you might have been contacted by a company showing interest in buying your structured settlement for a lump sum payout.
Anyone going for a structured insurance settlement should be very much alert because some companies tend to exploit the consumers. Consider the following before jumping into anything-
Anyone going for a structured insurance settlement should be very much alert because some companies tend to exploit the consumers. Consider the following before jumping into anything-
Considerations:
Odd Commission Percentage – Annuities could be much profitable for firms offering you cash. Most of the time, odd commission rate is added with it. It’s necessary to make sure that the commissions charged in setting up settlements are not an odd percentage of the lump sum you will be receiving for selling your structured settlement.
Amplified Value - Another trick that the companies try to use against the structured settlement owners is Amplified value. First they go to an agreement and decide an amount that the plaintiff is gonna receive for selling structured settlement. Then they hyperbolize the value of it. As a result the petitioner/receiver, during accepting the deal, obtains a much much less money than what was first agreed upon because of dollar value tricking by the firm. Sometimes, defense pays the full amount of without much resistance because they know that later they would take good amounts of rebates from companies that they used for annuities. Receivers of the cash should compare charges with identical insurance settlement packages by other companies. It is just be sure that they are not being tricked. Petitioners should make sure that all charges are included in the originally agreement.
Self-Dealing - Cases are there where the petitioner's lawyer is in the insurance business and is biased. It happens that he makes a structured settlement agreement on behalf of his client without telling the client that he(the lawyer) is the one who is buying the annuities, or is having a huge amount of percentage money on annuity money or having a fee for reference. Check your lawyer's profile to see if he is, in any way related to the firm, insurance company he is favoring.
Life Expectancy - It is unfortunate but true that generally petitioners in this case die faster. People who receive huge personal injury settlement deals will have short life expectancy because of the injuries they have. It’s very important to consider this matter during any kind of structured settlement deal. The important thing is to decide if it will be appropriate and wise to go for a deal where paychecks will stop coming in the event of death.
Security With the Use of Multiple Companies - For bigger settlements, there is a way to be more secure. Dividing the settlement between different companies instead of one gives you more security. This makes you secure in the event that one of the companies goes bankrupt.
Keep in mind that those companies who buy structured settlements, are looking to gain profit from their investment. Sometimes their offers are very low. You may benefit from approaching more than one company in relation to the sale of your settlement, just to make sure that you have the highest payoff. You may also wanna be sure that the insurance company which is interested to buy your structured settlement is well-established, reputable and has a strong fifancial background. Usually consulting with an attorney/lawyer before entering into an agreement for selling structured settlements is a good idea.