The site is designed to educate and answer any questions you may have. If you cannot find the answers you are seeking go to our Ask the Expert section and we will provide the information.

Structured Settlements – What are they?

It is a financial award given to someone that sustained injuries in an accident typically paid by an insurance company. Rather than one large payment and structured settlement is an annuity that pays the recipient out over time. The purpose is to provide ongoing income for someone that may not be able to work so that they can meet their financial obligations over the many years. Payments are often paid monthly or quarterly and can last up to twenty, thirty years or more depending on the case and situation.

Why Settlement Recipients Sell?

The most common reasons people transfer their future payments for cash include:

1. Their life or financial circumstances have changed

2. To pay mounting bills

3. Other reasons include: divorce, to pay for college, or a down payment on a house

Additional Information

A structured settlement can offer several advantages including the security of long-term income being guaranteed. If the injured party is unable to work due to their injuries this provides them income to pay their bills and get any need medical care. It also serves as a way for one to manage their settlement and ensure they will have money to meet their ongoing needs several years in the future. It also enables the injured party to focus on their recover rather than money management.

There are statistics that show that up to 30% of those that receive a lump-sum as their settlement spend it within the first few months and upwards of 80% have spend the money within five years.

If one chooses an lump sum payout from the onset the money needs to be invested and administered. Unless the injured party or their family has money management experience they will need to hire a quality financial advisor to invest the award to ensure it will last for many years to come.

The income from a structured settlement is tax free, both at the Federal and state levels. Because the money is handed out in smaller increments there is less need to for a financial advisor as the payments are set up to meet your monthly needs.

Structured settlements are often ideal under the following circumstances:

• Workers compensation cases where the injured party is unable to work for a protracted length of time. A structure will allow steady income to insure that the victim and their family will continue to have steady income.
• Disabilities of a temporary or permanent nature that require extensive health care or recovery time.
• Guardianship cases where the injury results in death of someone with minor children. A structured settlement can insure that funds are available for the surviving family members.

There are many things to consider if you are in a position to receive a large amount of compensation for injury or accident. One of the options may involve payments over time. Before you act, you should learn as much as you can about structures in order to determine if such an agreement is right for you. As always, should you find yourself in such a situation, you should consult with a financial advisor and/or a competent attorney. The last thing you want to do is deal with a crisis without adequate help.

If you have a structured settlement and are considering selling, read on to learn more or contact us via our “ask the experts” page or call us for personalized assistance.

Settlement Definitions

It will be helpful while navigating this website and learning more about settlements to know the most important terminology used in the industry. Some of the more important definitions are below. If this site does not answer you questions or if you want a definition explained to you please email us at

info@structuredsettlementhelp.com We are happy to answer your questions and put you on the right path for whatever your particular issue is.

Factoring Company – This is a company that purchases future payment or annuity streams and provides the seller lump sum cash.

Structured Settlement – Financial settlement for someone injured in an accident – rather than being paid out in cash they receive a settlement that is structured to make recurring payments over many years to help the recipient meet their long term financial obligations.

Annuity – A settlement is set up by purchasing an annuity that will then make payments to the recipient over the term of the agreement. The annuity is purchased by the insurance company that presented the offer of a settlement is managed by a second (non-affiliated) insurance company. Payments are made at regular intervals typical monthly, quarterly or annual as stipulated in the original terms of the agreement.

Primary Market – The primary market are companies that help injured parties to set up a structure based on the offer of the settlement by the insurance company. The goal is to take the full amount and space out payments in such a way to meet monthly financial obligations over a long period of time (ten, twenty years or more).

Secondary Market – These are factoring companies (see above) that help those that have a settlement and want to cash in their payments for cash. They are the buyers.

FAQ’s

This website will set up a Frequently Asked Questions section but some of the more important questions are below. If you have a question that is not answered here or on the site please submit your information on our form above or the you can email us as well and we will answer you question promptly.

Can I sell my settlement – The short answer is yes. Based on the definitions above there is an entire industry that was set up to meet the needs of those that are receiving payments from an annuity and want/need a larger sum of cash. You can cash out your payments.

Do I have to sell all my payments: No – the good news is you have flexibility to meet your needs based on your wants and financial situation. You have the option to sell all your payments at one time or sell only some payments. If you sell on some payments you can get a lump sum today and keep some of your future payments intact. The amount of payments you sell is totally up to you but should be considered carefully so you cash in the right amount.

Can I do more than one cash out transaction: Yes, it is certainly possible and done fairly routinely. Although this is often done by those that mistakenly do one cash out transaction and sell too few payments. So it is important to consider the amount of cash you need today and any future need you might have so you can try to do only one transaction. But the option to do a second or third transaction is possible.