When dealing with a personal injury or tort case, you need to understand a little bit about structured settlements. One reason that this is so important is that with these cases, approximately 96% are settled outside of court. Because of this, you owe it to yourself to know exactly what a structured settlement entails, how you may be able to sell one and what is expected of you when hiring professionals who can get the job done for you. With this in mind, let’s explore a few of these points below.
What exactly is a structured settlement?
A structured settlement refers to the situation in which you, the plaintiff set aside legal action so that you can instead get paid for your injuries and damages. These settlements are handled with a lump sum payment and often involve the help of professionals who can help negotiate the settlement to get you the money that you need and deserve. The compensation that you receive is instead of continuing your lawsuit and will give you the stream of income that you need to pay for your damages. This money is comprehensive, so you will need to take inventory of your needs during an injury case.
Selling Your Structured Settlement Payments
In many situations, a person might opt to sell their structured settlement to get a payout. There are some reasons that people may do this, but it usually revolves around some financial need. For example, many people opt to sell their structured settlement to place a down payment on a new home, receive money for a large investment, settle some other sort of debt and to come up with some quick cash that can help them out in a pinch. Regardless of your reason for settling your structured settlement, you need to be sure that you understand the process so that you can get access to the money that you require.
First and foremost, you need to be aware of what types of options are available to you when you choose to sell your structured settlement. In one situation, you will be able to sell part of the settlement in a way that allows you to receive payments periodically. This is advantageous in some different ways. For one, you do not have to worry about missing out on the tax benefits that come with the settlement. You will be able to retain these tax benefits while also taking in payments on a regular basis which can give you the same effect of selling it outright. Another option is called entirety. In this situation, you are selling the entire settlement so that you do not have to worry about getting regular payments throughout the course of several years. Instead, you will be taking in a lump sum payment which you can use however you see fit. Finally, another option when selling your settlement is the lump sum option. In this option, you will be able to receive large sums of money that give you a great stream of income, and you will still be able to hold onto the tax benefits that were promised to you during the settlement process. By selling your settlement, you put yourself in a prosperous financial situation which can be useful to you. If you believe that this is an option that you would like to take, the next step is to get in touch with professionals who can help you out with this process. The section below will explain that in greater detail.
Choosing The Right Structured Settlement Company
Any time that you are looking for companies that buy structured settlements, you should understand which ones are top-notch. In this regard, we will consider:
- J.G. Wentworth
- Peachtree
- SenecaOne
J.G. Wentworth is a Pennsylvania-based company that has been around since 1991 handling these sorts of issues. Peachtree Financial Is a Florida-based company that has been around since 1996. SenecaOne Is a private-based company that has emerged as a strong contender in the structured settlement industry.
Your best bet in getting a representative to help with your out-of-court agreement is to speak to all of them. From here, you will be up to get estimates on how much they can pay you for your injuries and damages. In doing this, you will need to include as much detail as possible about your case, so that nothing is left out and to ensure that they can fully and completely assist you with out-of-court settlements. From here, you will be able to judge which is giving you the most usable payout and can decide from there which you would like to accept.
Do not shy away from comparing estimates as well. You would be surprised how will these companies will be to match the competition, and this will allow you to get an ideal settlement possible for your case. In doing this, you should also look into the fine print of any contracts so that you are fully aware of what is expected and when you can expect to pay out. Make sure that you go over all of the payout options with them as well to decide which will be best for your financial needs both regarding the settlement itself and sell it.
By understanding these terms of structured settlements, you will be in an empowered position to not only get the money that you need after dealing with a personal injury case but to also sell your settlement outright for financial gain. These tips will be helpful to you in that regard and will allow you to know exactly what is expected of you when going through this process. Take advantage of the information presented in this article so that you can begin approaching these companies for your settlement needs.
