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March 10, 2017

Is "Annuity Straight Talk" on State Guaranty Funds a Curve Ball to Structured Settlement Investors?

by Structured Settlement Watchdog

There is a general prohibition on advertising statutory protections in connection with the sale of insurance, including annuities [ see NOLHGA Advertising Prohibition]. 

Yet as is evident by the image below, companies like Montana based Annuity Straight Talk speak about state guaranty funds in a manner that would appear to be never intended by state insurance law to in a sales pitch to promote the "safety factors" of what Annuity Straight Talk refers to as "secondary market annuities".

The only defense of this usage is to say that they are not annuities.  If that defense strategy were to be deployed, is that an admission to false advertising, insinuating insurance protections to an instrument that is not an annuity? 

That not withstanding, is the statement even true? 

Do guaranty funds cover structured settlement receivables?  What steps have Annuity Straight Talk and others who make similar insinuations, taken to confirm the statement?

 

Annuity staright tallk uses State guaranty funds in sales pitch

Annuity Straight Talk and others like them offer other insurance products, including annuities.  You need an insurance license to offer insurance products, including annuities and its principal is a licensed insurance agent in Montana according to the company's BBB listing. The Annuity Straight Talk website solicits customers for Fixed Indexed Annuities and Hybrid annuities and suggests appointments with several major insurers such as MetLife, John Hancock, Guardian, Allstate and Prudential.

Montana Law   (where Annuity Straight Talk is based)

§33-10-210. “Unfair trade practice -- notice to policy owners” (1) It is a prohibited unfair trade practice for any person to make use in any manner of the protection afforded by this part in the sale of insurance. Amended effective July 1, 2003.

Oregon Law   (where several other purveyors of structured settlement receivables marketed as "secondary market annuities" are domiciled)

Advertising Prohibition Policy
734.890 "Association not to be used in sales or solicitation" No insurer or insurance producer shall make, publish, disseminate, circulate or place before the public, or cause directly or indirectly, to be made, published, disseminated, circulated or placed before the public, in any newspaper, magazine or other publication, or in the form of a notice, circular, pamphlet, letter or poster, or over any radio station or television station, or in any other way, any advertisement, announcement or statement which uses the existence of the Oregon Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Association for the purpose of sales, solicitation or inducement to purchase any form of insurance covered by the Oregon Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Association Act. This Section shall not apply however to the Oregon Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Association or any other entity which does not sell or solicit insurance or to public service institutional advertisements by individual insurers.

Prohibitions in advertising state guaranty associations can be found in the link at the beginning of this post.

Is There a Loophole in Need of Closing?

Market place confusion is not good for investors or consumers.  Muddy waters need to be cleared. Insurance regulators need education on how the terms annuity and annuities are being used and need to respond with clear guidance.

Does this statement in some state laws on advertising prohibition get some purveyors of "secondary market annuities" off the hook?  'This Section "shall not apply however to the (State)  Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Association or any other entity which does not sell or solicit insurance" '.

It seems to me if you are a licensed insurance agent or broker and you're going to call factored structured settlement payment rights  (i.e. a structured settlement derivative) an annuity when it may not be, insinuate annuity protections where there may be none and market these to yield starved seniors something is dreadfully amiss.

 

Posted at 10:37 AM in Annuity Straight Talk, Montana Structured Settlements, Prohibition on Advertisng , Secondary Market Annuities | Not Annuities | Don't Be Fooled, Secondary Market For Structured Settlement Payment Rights, Secondary Market Structured Settlements, Structured Settlement Factoring News, Structured Settlement Investments, Structured Settlement Receivables, Structured Settlement Watchdog® |

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  • What is a Structured Settlement? What You Need to Know
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    Which life insurance companies issue structured settlement annuities in 2024? A list of current structured annuity issuers, the location of their home offices and their financial ratings from A.M. Best, Moodys, Fitch, Standard & Poors and/or other Tier1 NAIC ratings, with links to their websites and other useful information. Last updated June 14, 2024
  • Treasury Funded Structured Settlements
    Treasury Funded Structured Settlements are a settlement option for the most conservative using the OTHER permissible qualified funding asset under IRC 130(d), United States Treasury Bonds in addition to, or instead of, structured settlement annuities. Treasury Funded Structured Settlements can also be used to fund installment sales, also known as structured sales and other non qualified structured settlements.
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    Use the Taxable Equivalent Yield chart to help compare the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of a structured settlement to other alternative or complementary investments. Need help with the chart? Call 4structures.com® LLC at 888-325-8640
  • Structured Settlement Payments | Types of Structured Settlements 2024
    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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    Structured attorney fees is a financial strategy that offers a unique way to defer taxes for lawyers and law firms. Lawyers CAN structure their legal fees even if the plaintiff doesn't structure their settlement. There are multiple ways to structure your attorney fees, such as capped or uncapped index linked structured settlement annuities where payments are adjusted based on upside changes in the S&P 500 or another index, Trial Lawyers may also use a special deferred pay/deferred compensation arrangement, if market based returns returns are desired with no cap. Plan NOW for year end! Put structured attorney fee expert John Darer® on your settlement planning team in 2024.
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    Receiving structured settlement payments from your own structured settlement or inherited structured settlement? You'll like this huge time saver. Click the title for a link to a comprehensive list of customer service telephone numbers that includes both current AND former structured settlement annuity issuers and reinsurers. If you have simple bank or beneficiary changes, or if the insurance company that issued the structured annuity has merged, sold or spun off its block of structured annuity business (e.g. Aviva, Allstate, Transamerica, AEGON, GE Capital, Liberty, CNA, Confederation Life), oran annuity issuer has changed its name and you're trying to track them down. Here you go! The list is regularly updated. Last updated May 20, 2024.
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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
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  • What Are Market Based Structured Settlements?
    Market based structured settlements are an alternative or supplementary structured settlement solution for the plaintiff, attorney or law firm that: 1. Can afford to take some market risk 2. Have discretionary settlement dollars. Claimants and attorneys alike may find that market-based structured settlements provide the opportunity to receive tax-free income, or tax-deferred income, while enjoying growth potential.
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Qualified Settlement Funds

  • What is a Qualified Settlement Fund?
    Qualified Settlement Funds | What You Need to Know
  • Firmwide Qualified Settlement Funds Debunked
    Firmwide qualified settlement funds have been heavily promoted to trial lawyers, but have been debunked in a detailed analysis in a July 2022 legal opinion a tax partner at the law firm of Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath, LLP. Trial lawyers and firms who have established Firmwide QSFs or coinsidering establishing a Firmwide QSF should read the analysis as part of their evaluation.

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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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