Sell Your Structured Settlement

What is a Structured settlement?

Structured settlement annuities are financial instruments that are normally used to provide regular, tax free payments to personal injury victims over a long period of time. Instead of facing unexpected stress and management issues that come with receiving a lump sum of money, the recipient is protected from unfortunate circumstances that could result in spending a large portion of the money that he or she needs to manage a lifetime of injury related expenses.

Can you sell your structured settlement?

Yes, you can sell your structured payment for cash up front. Specifically, you can sell rights to future structured settlement payments in exchange for cash now.

How to sell your structured settlement payments

Make the decision to sell – Do you need money? Are you willing to exchange some of the money that you will receive in the future for money now?
Contact companies that buy structured settlements – You will do best if it is important that you work with a structured settlement buyer that is reputable and has your best interests in mind, makes you feel comfortable, is experienced in completing the court ordered transfer process, et al.
Choose the company that you like best and that provides the best offer – It’s time for paperwork. After you submit the proper paperwork (your annuity policy, settlement agreement or benefit’s letter so the transfer company can verify your payments, application, ID), all materials are reviewed to ensure they are complete and accurate.
Have your sale approved by a judge – once the relevant documents are returned and they are fully signed, a local attorney files them with court and after that the court will schedule a hearing. This is the beginning of the waiting period. In the court you will be required to justify why the money is needed and you should be in a position to show that you are not putting your and your family’s financial future in jeopardy. Unless there are any problems with your request of transfer, the judges mostly approve the transfer at this stage.
Get your money – Once approved, the judge will sign the order approving your transaction and the order is sent over to the insurance company to wire funds.

Selling structured settlement payments

How long does it take to sell your structured settlement?

After you’ve signed the contract to sell your settlement payments, it takes approximately 45 days to receive your money. However, keep in mind that every structured settlement purchase transaction is different due to each state’s laws regulating such purchase transactions. In addition, you may qualify for an immediate cash advance to help you through a particularly tough time.

How much cash will a company take to help me sell my structured settlement?

The percentage structured settlement companies take is based upon the discount rate applied to the transaction and negotiation.

If you are considering selling your structured settlement payment rights, you need to be sure that the offers you are getting are reasonable and fair as you’ll have to get the lump sum reduced by a factor of the projected interest earnings, known as the discount rate. The exact discount rate that you will need to give in order to sell your structured settlement will depend on a number of factors:

the total amount of your settlement payments,
the number of payments you have remaining,
the date those payments are due to arrive, and
the number of payments you wish to sell etc. The longer people have to wait to receive their payments, the greater the discount rate will need to be.

Discount rates from factoring companies to consumers can range anywhere between 8% up to over 18% but usually average somewhere in the middle. An average discount rate of 12% should be reasonable but some companies may want to take as much as 30% discount.

Annuity buyers | Sell an annuity | Sell structured settlements | Taxes selling settlements