Structured Settlement Payments – How To Know When To Sell Yours

Sydney, Steven Saunders today launched the structured settlement payments site http://www.structuredsettlementsadvice.com. Structured settlements provide injured persons with an opportunity to capitalise upon an injury suffered through negligence. The main issue is how best to manage the sudden influx of funds – whether a steady flow of instalments is best or alternatively to sell the structured settlement outright. The main reason structured settlements were introduced was because claimants rarely have the ability to manage the funds, as Tim Grant, contributor to Journal Gazette states: " A recent survey of people who had received big settlements in personal-injury cases showed more than half who took the lump-sum payment had already spent the entire amount at the time of the survey." A major benefit of structured settlements is that they are income-tax free and insurance companies can guarantee the benefits for life. Furthermore they provide residual and reliable income that provides claimants with security and ability to make repayments for various debts.

A claimant can also sell a structured settlement. This process is also known as factoring and can take between 60 and 90 days to settle and secure the lump sum payment in exchange for the remaining structured settlements. Knowing when to sell a structured settlement is a matter of personal circumstances, as Josh Shapiro, contributor to Best Syndication states: "Do you need a lump sum of money? This is the primary indicator that it is time to sell a structured settlement."

Examples how one could benefit from selling a structured settlement include: clearing a mortgage, buying a business and investing in stock.

If one is considering selling a structured settlement it is advisable to seek the advice of a trusted structured settlement broker to help negotiate the deal with the insurance company. There are various illegitimate online structured settlement companies that claim to negotiate on your behalf- one must be wary of such potential scam sites.

Interestingly as Tim Grant, contributor to Journal Gazette states in relation to the AIG American General survey:  “that 35 percent of Americans with no knowledge of structured settlements would take the lump sum, but after learning the merits of structured settlements, 73 percent of them preferred the lifetime payments”. It seems clear that there is a lack of awareness of the long term benefits of structured settlements, and how best to manage them. 

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