Is It Safe to Sell a Structured Settlement?
If you’ve been awarded a structured settlement because of an injury or accident, you know the types of financial difficulty common in these situations. Just because you have a decent settlement amount doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re any better off financially than you were before the accident. In fact, it’s pretty common to struggle financially, even with a settlement. The good news is that selling your structured settlement lets you access most of the balance, but is selling a safe thing to do? Actually, it’s less risky than you might think. Here’s what you need to know.
Full Protection
First, understand that you are completely protected during the selling process. You do not give up any of your rights to the structured settlement until the sale has been finalized, and you have received the money you’re due. Pay attention to that last part – you keep all rights until you’ve got payment in hand. That should put your mind at ease.
There are additional protections built in here as well to ensure that you don’t fall victim to fraud. The court order/judge’s order protects you by forcing the funding company buying your structured settlement to perform the obligations specified in the sale. That means they can’t “welsh” on you and leave you hanging. They have to pay up.
The Problem Here
If you’ve been paying attention thus far, you might have noticed one fly in this otherwise flawless ointment. You’re guaranteed to get the payment agreed on in the sale contract. That doesn’t mean you’re getting a fair amount. It doesn’t even mean you’re getting a specific percentage of the total settlement amount. Your just guaranteed to receive the amount you and the funding company agreed on. That might be an incredibly small amount if you don’t work with the right company. The onus to get a decent amount is fully on your shoulders and no one else’s.
What this means is that it’s up to you to get the best sale amount possible. Doing so can be a lot of work, particularly if you’re not sure what to do or where to go. Just finding a single structured settlement buyer can be a chore. Finding multiple buyers without outside assistance can be impossible. Thankfully, there is help available.
A Helping Hand
There are third parties that act as go-betweens in structured settlement sales. They vet and certify buyers, ensuring that you’re only dealing with high quality companies. They also take your structured settlement information and send it out to interested buyers, allowing those funding companies to bid on the sale. You get to compare bids, choose the one that works for you, and then make the sale. The immediate upshot is a faster, smoother process with less worry that you’re not getting the most for the sale of your settlement.
Working with a third party company is a very good idea, and will help ensure that your sale is enough to make a difference in your financial life.
Category: Family Finances, Law
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