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April 26, 2008

Settlement Planner's "Board Certified" Credential Hype is Misleading

by Structured Settlement Watchdog

A member of the bar and a settlement planner has claimed in advertising legal and insurance services that he is "board certified" by the National Structured Settlement Trade Association and  that "he earned his "board certification" and the designation of Certified Structured Settlement Consultant (CSSC) from the University of Notre Dame".

To claim that the professional designation of CSSC means that the settlement planner is "board certified" was misleading at best. When a consumer hears the words "board certified" what does that imply?

As published in the NSSTA 2007 overview of the program, the Certified Structured Settlement Consultant Designation is a professional designation, NOT A BOARD CERTIFICATION, offered by the National Structured Settlement Trade Association (NSSTA) in conjunction with the Executive program at the University of Notre Dame.Candidates do not matriculate at University of Notre Dame-they spend approximately 4 days there. To qualify for the CSSC designation candidates must be members of NSSTA, successfully complete an on and off campus course of study culminating in a comprehensive examination covering such topics as insurance casualty claims practice, state and federal laws pertaining to tort settlements, medical reversionary trusts, special needs trusts, macroeconomics, the art of negotiation and business ethics.

It is a shame that this very bright and otherwise highly qualified individual has chosen to engage in needless false advertising.

This author has written several articles on the use of the professional designation of Certified Structured Settlement Consultant and what it means. Simply click on the titles to access the material.

  1. Do You See Yourself As A Certified False Advertiser? December 5, 2007
  2. 4 Days in The Vicinity of Touchdown Jesus Doesn't Make You One of The Fighting Irish October 18, 2007
  3. NSSTA 2007 overview of the CSSC program



Posted at 10:54 PM in Certified Structured Settlement Consultant (CSSC) NSSTA, Cleaning Up "The Structured Settlement Neighborhood", Credibiliity of Settlement Planner, False Advertising Re Creating, Buying or Selling Structured Settlements, NSSTA, Professional Designations Relevant to Settlement Experts, Settlement Planner Business Practices, Settlement Planner Credentials, Settlement Planning Ethics, Society of Settlement Planners (SSP), Structured Settlement Broker Business Practices, Structured Settlement Credentials, Structured Settlement Industry News, Structured Settlement Watchdog®, Structured Settlements in Florida, Structured Settlements Industry, Truth in Advertising Structured Settlements |

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    Ways You Can Structure Your Settlement Payments in 2024. With a structured settlement you can have more than one type of payment in a single contract. Different types of structured settlement payments can be customized and combined to meet your needs on a stand-alone basis, or in conjunction with other financial products. Diversify your structured settlement, if you wish, by funding with more than one annuity issuer, with treasury funded structured settlements, index linked structured settlement payments and market based structured .
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  • What Are Structured Settlement Annuities?
    Structured settlement annuities are annuities that can provide one or more customized annuity payment streams in a single contract. Read about structured settlement annuities here.
  • History of Structured Settlements
    Tracing the roots of structured settlements history from 1918, when Congress exempted damages for personal injury or sickness from income tax, to the establishment of structured settlements as a core personal injury settlement planning tool to the present day.
  • What Are Market Based Structured Settlements?
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  • What is a Qualified Settlement Fund?
    Qualified Settlement Funds | What You Need to Know
  • Firmwide Qualified Settlement Funds Debunked
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  • New York Insurance Advertising law requires the full name of the Insurer to be listed along with the city and state of the principal office. Stating that you represent these fine companies using Insurance company logos without the preceding information are also illegal
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