Cash Structured Settlements

Structured Settlements - Also called "periodic payments," structured settlement laws either mandate, allow defendants to request, or allow courts to require that some or all payments awarded by a judge or jury be made to the injured consumer over a long period of time. In other words, the injured consumer is prohibited from receiving payments in a lump sum. These provisions increase the hardships of the most seriously injured consumers who are hit soon after an injury with large medical costs and must make adjustments in transportation and housing. Often, the law allows insurance companies to pocket the money upon the plaintiff's death, instead of paying it to a dependent spouse or child. A structured settlement is a financial or insurance arrangement, including periodic payments, that a claimant accepts to resolve a personal injury tort claim or to compromise a statutory periodic payment obligation. Structured settlements were first utilized in Canada and the United States during the 1970s as an alternative to lump sum settlements. Structured settlements are now part of the statutory tort law of several common law countries including: Australia, Canada, England and the United States. Although some uniformity exists, each of these countries has its own definitions, rules and standards for structured settlement. Structured settlements may include income tax and spendthrift requirements as well as benefits. Structured settlement payments are sometimes called “periodic payments”. A structured settlement incorporated into a trial judgment is called a “periodic payment judgment”. You could have a direct settlement funding or cash payout on future structured settlements like those from an insurance settlement, lawsuit, and other annuity payouts. Many individuals holding certain types of assets, such as Lottery Winnings and Structured Settlement awards, have an immediate need for a lump sum payment instead of being paid over a number of years. Our innovative techniques as a buyer of personal injury settlements allow us to successfully turn alternative cash flow instruments into lump sum payments at no risk to our clients. Recognized by federal law since 1983, structured settlements are an excellent way for physical injury and wrongful death victims to protect their financial security. Payments are free from federal and state income taxes. They can also be tailored to a plaintiff's specific needs. Since 1985, the National Structured Settlements Trade Association has worked with attorneys, consumer activists and disability advocates to promote the benefits of structured settlements. The typical structured settlement arises and is structured as follows: An injured party (the claimant) settles a tort suit with the defendant (or its insurance carrier) pursuant to a settlement agreement that provides that, in exchange for the claimant's securing the dismissal of the lawsuit, the defendant (or, more commonly, its insurer) agrees to make a series of periodic payments over time. The insurer, a property/casualty insurance company, thus finds itself with a long-term payment obligation to the claimant. To fund this obligation, the property/casualty insurer generally takes one of two typical approaches: It either purchases an annuity from a life insurance company (an arrangement called a "buy and hold" case) or it assigns (or, more properly, delegates) its periodic payment obligation to a third party which in turn purchases an annuity (which arrangement is called an "assigned case"). In an unassigned case, the property/casualty insurer retains the periodic payment obligation and funds it by purchasing an annuity from a life insurance company, thereby offsetting its obligation with a matching asset. The payment stream purchased under the annuity matches exactly, in timing and amounts, the periodic payments agreed to in the settlement agreement. The property/casualty company owns the annuity and names the claimant as the payee under the annuity, thereby directing the annuity issuer to send payments directly to the claimant. If any of the periodic payments are life-contingent (i.e., the obligation to make a payment is contingent on someone continuing to be alive), then the claimant (or whoever is determined to be the measuring life) is named as the annuitant or measuring life under the annuity. In an assigned case, the property/casualty company does not wish to retain the long-term periodic payment obligation on its books. Accordingly, the property/casualty insurer transfers the obligation, through a legal device called a qualified assignment, to a third party. The third party, called an assignment company, will require the property/casualty company to pay it an amount sufficient to enable it to buy an annuity that will fund its newly accepted periodic payment obligation. If the claimant consents to the transfer of the periodic payment obligation (either in the settlement agreement or, failing that, in a special form of qualified assignment known as a qualified assignment and release), the defendant and/or its property/casualty company has no further liability to make the periodic payments. This method of substituting the obliger is desirable for property/casualty companies that do not want to retain the periodic payment obligation on their books. Typically, an assignment company is an affiliate of the life insurance company from which the annuity is purchased.

When it comes to selling annuity payments or structured settlement payments, we understand that you have a choice. We expect our customers to choose rather than settle for a purchaser of their future payments. Your annuity was structured with your financial security in mind and selling annuity payments should only be done when it is in your best interest to do so. We encourage you to find out What Customers Think of Annuity Transfers and to read through the website page entitled Why Choose Annuity Transfers? and Why Trust Annuity Transfers? Take a close look at our Television Advertisement, and by all means, Meet Our Staff. The motto beneath our logo says "Friendly People. First-class Service." Everyone at Annuity Transfers expects to be held to that standard. We appreciate your interest in Annuity Transfers, Ltd.