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January 19, 2018

Liberty Life Assurance Company of Boston to be Acquired by Lincoln Financial Group

by John Darer® CLU ChFC MSSC CeFT RSP CLTC

Lincoln Financial Group announced January 19, 2018 that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Liberty Life Assurance Company of Boston from Liberty Mutual Insurance Group.

Upon completion of the transaction, Lincoln Financial will retain Liberty’s Group Benefits business and reinsure Liberty’s Individual Life and Annuity business to Protective Life Insurance Company ( a subsidiary of Dai-Ichi Life Holdings)  The acquisition, which is expected to create a single, powerful Group Benefits operation with industry-leading products, services, and capabilities, is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2018, pending regulatory approvals.

What Does this Mean to Liberty Life Assurance Company of Boston for new structured settlement business?

Liberty Life Assurance Company of Boston is no longer writing structured settlement annuities on either a qualified or non qualified basis.

What Does This Mean to Liberty Life Assurance Company of Boston annuitants?

Both Lincoln Financial (a Fortune 250 Holding Company) and Protective Life are regulated and rated A+ by A.M. Best.  By comparison Liberty Life Assurance Company of Boston is rated A. In emails to its appointed agents Liberty emphasized that it will honor its commitments on in-force annuities. I have asked for further written confirmation. Protective Life was founded in 1907, with $78 billion in reported assets on its Form 10-Q for Q3 2017. Protective is owned by Dai-Ichi LIfe Holdings. founded in 1902.  View Lincoln Financial Powerpoint on the Liberty Life Assurance Company of Boston acquisition Download LNC+Liberty+Acquisition+Presentation

Liberty Life will process current locked in business but will no longer accept premium from mid February 2018.

What Does This Mean To the Structured Settlement Industry?

Much of the non qualified structured settlement side will be absorbed by other sources, such as Havelet, SAI and National Indemnity reinsurance (where there is an insurance company paying on behalf of Defendants) and/or other alternatives. Metropolitan Tower Life Insurance Company recently entered the non qualified structured settlement market and offers a domestic non qualified assignment company, based in Delaware as opposed to Barbados.  The limitations for the domestic company will be that non qualified structure design must comply with IRC 72(u), the most significant of which will be payments must start within 13 months (I.e. no later than deferrals beyond a year).  But where Liberty would not entertain the use of its product for structured installment sales, Metropolitan Tower will. Metropolitan Tower recently announced its merger with another MetLife subsidiary General American Life, part of the "original game plan" for those who listened, that appears to further strengthen their offering.

The sky isn't falling!  It surprises me that some of my industry colleagues tend to paint with a narrow tip negative brush whenever there is change in the industry.  Many of the newer entrants to our industry have no idea about companies long gone from the industry such as Commonwealth, United Pacific Life, Presidential, Manulife, Confederation Life, Peoples Security, Security Life of Denver (ING). The bottom line is that you can't avoid change but you can manage the change. Pacific Life only entered the structured settlement market in 2012 and in 2017 was the second biggest in terms of production. 

What Do You Do If You Have a Liberty Life Assurance Company of Boston structured settlement and are approached by a company offering cash for your structured settlement?

The secondary market's cockroaches come out of their burrows whenever a company exits the marketplace and try to scare annuitants so that they or their investors can make fat profits. Ignore them. In 2008, they scurried about scaring annuitants they could sucker from American General ( a subsidiary of AIG, that wasn't leaving the business). A decade later American General continues to honor its commitments and those suckers lost a fortune. More cockroaches came out when John Hancock and Allstate exited the market in 2013. 

Some will offer to help you "manage your annuity", or give you information that is often incorrect, Anytime you see or hear from one just remember that their solution is fleecing you for cents on the dollar.

More details to follow.

 

Posted at 07:53 PM in Albany New York Structured Settlements, Baltimore Structured Settlements, Bridgeport Structured Settlements, Bronx New York Structured Settlements, Brooklyn New York Structured Settlements, Buffalo New York Structured Settlements, Liberty Life Assurance Company of Boston, Liberty Mutual, Los Angeles CA Structured Settlements, Louisville Kentucky Structured Settlements, Missouri Structured Settlements, New Jersey Structured Settlements, New London Structured Settlements, Olean Structured Settlements |

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Guide to Structured Settlements 2023

  • What is a Structured Settlement? What You Need to Know
    Structured settlements and what you need to know about them including a helpful introductory video featuring 2023 A.M. Best Client Recommended Structured Settlement Expert and Registered Settlement Planner John Darer® of 4structures.com® LLC
  • How Do Structured Settlements Work? How Structured Settlements Work
    How structured settlements work, including 4structures.com LLC's super helpful structured settlement flow chart/diagram showing how structured settlements fit in on the spectrum of settlement planning solutions.
  • Rated Ages and Structured Settlement Cost
    Rated Ages for Structured Settlement Annuities present advantages to all parties. Shift the mortality risk to a life insurance company whose business it it is to assess mortality risk to price its life insurance and annuities. Rated ages boost your structured settlement annuity benefit per premium dollar, or your yield on lifetime payments. Rated ages help to reduce the cost of funding a Medicare Set Aside arrangement where a Structured MSA, is being used { WCMSA LMSA or NFMSA].
  • Structured Settlement Annuity Companies 2023
    Which life insurance companies issue structured settlement annuities going into 2023? 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.
  • 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.
  • Compare Structured Settlement IRR to Other Settlement Alternatives
    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
    Ways You Can Structure Your Settlement Payments. 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 .
  • Structured Attorney Fees for Tax Deferral for Contingency Fees
    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 the an index linked structured settlement where payments are adjusted based on upside changes in the S&P 500 with no downside and a cap of 5%. 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.
  • Structured Settlement Annuity Company Customer Service Phone Numbers
    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) or changed its name and you're trying to track them down, here you go! The list is regularly updated. Last updated September 14, 2023
  • Structured Settlement Quote Lock-Ins | What You Need To Know
    What does a Structured Settlement Lock-In Mean? How do plaintiffs, defendants and insurers benefit from a structured settlement quote lock in when finalizing a settlement? How does the defendant/insurer/court benefit from using a structured settlement lock-in? Where to be careful when using structured settlement lock ins.
  • 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?
    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.
  • iStructure |Uncapped Fixed Index Structured Settlement Annuity
    iStructure is an innovative game changing fixed index structured settlement annuity for plaintiffs or attorneys. with an intermediate to long term horizon

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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    with a stable readership that seeks credible structured settlement information, John Darer Reviews, commentary and/or opinion about topical issues related to settlement planning, targeted to lawyers, injured persons and their family members, guardians, survivors, judges, magistrates, special masters, mediators, administrators, trust companies, insurance company executives and adjusters, financial advisers settlement professionals, financial professionals, insurance regulators, government leaders, federal and state law enforcement, buyers and sellers of structured settlement payment rights, the news media and other interested parties. 4structures.com LLC established this structured settlement blog in 2005. For over 17 years it has been a leading source for critical commentary. The John Darer authored blog has been among the most prolific, regularly providing reviews, fresh structured settlement, settlement planning, litigation recovery management content and commentary. John Darer®, CLU ChFC MSSC CeFT® RSP CLTC, President of Stamford, CT based 4structures.com, LLC, is an experienced New York City area structured settlement expert, structured settlement broker, Certified Financial Transitionist, and Registered Settlement Planner. In his capacity as a investigative journalist and commentator, and professionally, John Darer passionately believes that shining the light on a business practice is both healthy and newsworthy. It is in the best interest of injury victims, their families and their legal advisers, that the settlement planning discussion involve those that are properly trained in the topic, properly informed on the topic and, with respect to structured settlements, properly licensed and/or appointed). It has significant instructional and deterrent value to other practitioners and firms as well as those who may be caught in the cross hairs. WHAT YOU GET here is the straight stuff with a touch of irreverence and humor. We hope you enjoy and find the content to be helpful. Subscribe to the structured settlement blog feed, or a specific category feed through your blog reader, or through the Feedburner icon on this page. Followers of JDDarer™ on Twitter may also receive select content. If you would like to speak with John he can be reached at (888)325-8640 Thank you for reading! Last updated April 20, 2023

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Structured Settlement Best Practices Corner

  • 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
  • When it comes to settlement documents it is the ultimate responsibility of the lawyers or claims adjusters who receive input concerning the structured settlement aspects of the documents to actually read the entire document, exercise independent thought and advise their clients properly
  • Be aware that financial advisors use of testimonials is prohibited or restricted
  • Most states require that Testimonials represent the CURRENT opinion of the person who made the testimonial. Be prepared to back it up.
  • Number of States That Prohibit Payment of QSF expenses by licensed agents and brokers
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Why Take a Structured Settlement?

  • A structured settlement offers guaranteed financial security to personal injury victims, wrongful death survivors and their families. A structured settlement involves a customized stream of payments, provides long-term stable tax-free income, for a period of years or a lifetime. Unlike other income annuities. a structured settlement annuity can have multiple payment streams to address multiple needs in a single contract.

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