by Structured Settlement Watchdog™
Peachtree Financial Solutions "is taking a distinctly quieter approach" based on customer service to reach its target audience" in contrast to its "sibling" JG Wentworth. It's a classic "good cop bad cop" play by the Radnor PA company, pitting " See what you can do" against and, according to Grace Chung of Advertising Age, "in stark contrast" to " It's my money and I want it now". { Ad Age August 15, 2014 issue]?
Both Peachtree Financial Solutions and JG Wentworth "profit from providing a lump sum of cash to folks in need of immediate capital by purchasing their future streams of (structured settlement) payments (whether partly or in full) for less than the negotiated sum of its current market value".
Sean Reilly Senior VP and Chief Marketing Officer of JGWPT Holdings, was quoted as saying "A big part of that change is because we have to expand the consideration for the universe of custiomers that have thes estructured settlements but, for whatever reason, have never considered selling. The goal is to show them there's a viable financial alternative".
There is nothing unusual about a company having different brands (think hotels e.g. Ritz Carlton, Marriott, Courtyard, Residence Inn), but in a structured settlement context such contrast is manufactured by advertising and thus should not relieve a consumer from the need to shop around. We have received anectodes of consumers who have first gone to JG Wentworth being referred to Peachtree for a competing quote. Don't the profits flow to the same place?
A pending lawsuit in Connecticut federal court against JGWPT competitor Structured Settlement Quotes (SSQ), Genex Capital and Genex Strategies,Inc., alleges that"SSQ is nothing more than a fraudulent and deceptive scheme designed to mislead and deceive consumers and benefit certain companies and persons, and in particular Genex Capital and persons and companies affiliated with Genex Capital" AND
"While SSQ purports to be a neutral market place, SSQ misleads unsuspecting consumers and steers them to Genex Capital and other related entities and away from competitors".
SSQ claims to "having served over 11,000 customers and transacted more than $500 million in payments since 2007, and counting"
Sources: Woodbridge Structured Funding, LLC v Structured Settlement Quotes, Genex Capital and Genex Strategies, Inc., filed in the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut (Civil Action 3:14: CV-00214) and SSQ website.
The key takeaway is that settlement purchasers "profit from providing a lump sum of cash to folks in need of immediate capital by purchasing their future streams of (structured settlement) payments (whether partly or in full) for less than the negotiated sum of its current market value". Start with that premise as you shop for solutions!
The other takeaway for members of Congress and state legislators is that settlement purchasers appear to increasingly fancy themselves as financial advisors. Yet to date there is no licensure, no oversight of such companies' and their competitors' sales practices and no enforceable rules as there are in other sectors within the financial services industry [ banking, insurance, securities, real estate and life settlements].
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