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Structured Settlements | The Wonderful World of Structured Settlements

by John Darer CLU ChFC MSSC CeFT RSP CLTC

I see streams of green, lump sums too; tax-free payments for you, you and you; and I think to myself, what a wonderful world, ohhh yeah.

The "streams of green" are a perfect metaphor for the stability of structured settlement payments what that represents

I saw this wonderful image from the Robert Harding library taken from the middle of a mangrove forest, in Quang Ngai, Vietnam, that captures the essence of structured settlements in a perfect metaphor "Streams of Green".

How Can Structured Settlements Be Used?

"Streams of Green", as in customized payment streams of money that can individually, in parallel, or in conjunction, be used:

• to replace lost income
• to give a young adult a baseline as they enter the work force
• to quantify and provide a source of funding for future medical expenses
• to help fund custodial care
• or housing
• to help fund college education, grad school, a wedding, down payment on a future home, seed money for a business
• for funding a Medicare set aside at a significant discount
• to fund legacy gifts to children and grandchildren (no matter what happens)
• to smooth out uneven cash flows for a law practice
• to fund premiums for life insurance or long-term care insurance, or to create legacy wealth and much more.

The interposed blue-sky reflection on the water add to the optimism that this image represents at a time when some need hope and a reason for optimism.

The lyrics of the 1967 song, "What a Wonderful World", which I've [parodied above, were written by Bob Theile (as "George Douglas") and George David Weiss, and first recorded by Louis Armstrong ("Satchmo") during the Vietnam War amid turmoil in the 1960s, talks about the beautiful things of the world such as the blue skies, the beautiful colors of the rainbow, the warmth and friendlessness most people show each other, the lovely cries of babies, etc.

Despite the numerous heartbreaking things that happen around us on a daily basis, the song’s lyrics try to make the listener understand that despite the ugly part of the world, the world also has beautiful side that is totally worth appreciating. Owing to the sheer power and beauty of the song, it has over the years been used to try to bring people of different races together.  Read more at: https://www.songmeaningsandfacts.com/meaning-wonderful-world-louis-armstrong/.  It appeared on the soundtrack of the 1988 movie Good Morning Vietnam, after which it was reissued as a single, rose to 32 in the Billboard Hot100 and Louis Armstrong's recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.

What is a structured settlement?

 

 

 

 

 

 

US Court of Appeals Affirms Summary Judgment | USA Does Not Have To Fund ELNY Insolvency Shortfall

by John Darer CLU ChFC MSSC CeFT RSP CLTC

The United States Court of Appeals has decided that The United States DOES NOT have to make up an insurer shortfall to an annuitant 33 years after personal injury litigation was settled against the United States Department of the Army.

The original personal injury litigation involved a birthing injury sustained at a US Army Hospital in 1979. A compromise settlement included the purchase of 4 annuities all of which were placed with Executive Life Insurance Company of New York  (ELNY), which went into rehabilitation in 1992 and was eventually liquidated in 2013.

The Shaws filed suit against the government in the United States Court of Federal Claims (“Claims Court”) alleging a breach of their settlement agreement and seeking damages measured by the difference between the original payments and the reduced payments.

It's a hard "Nutt" to crack

The Claims Court found no breach and granted summary judgment in the government’s favor. Because the agreement did not make the government a guarantor of the annuity payments.

In its August 20, 2018 decision in KAREN L. SHAW, INDIVIDUALLY, AND KAREN L. SHAW, AS GUARDIAN OF THE PERSON OF RICHARD SCOTT SHAW, AN INCOMPETENT, RAYMOND A. SHAW, INDIVIDUALLY, Plaintiffs-Appellants v. UNITED STATES, Defendant-Appellee  2017-2136  Appeal from the United States Court of Federal Claims in No. 1:14-cv-00783-MMS, Judge Margaret M.Sweeney, the United States Court of Appeals concluded:

"Thus, the Shaws’ agreement, even more than the one at issue in Nutt, unambiguously cabined the government’s obligations to the initial lump-sum payments and the purchase of the annuity and did not obligate it to guarantee the future payments by the annuities. We reach this conclusion even in the absence of language, present in future payments will be paid. This minimum payout provides payments to the heirs of the now-dead payee Nutt, concerning the insurer’s rating and the government’s role in the event of the insurer’s default, which supported but was not necessary to the result in Nutt. See Nutt, 837 F.3d at 1298. Because the agreement is unambiguous in this respect, we need not consider the extrinsic evidence offered by the Shaws". Download Shaw - 49 - Affirmed (precedential) USCA 8-20-2018 #ELNY

Also citing to Nutt, in its decision in Trevor Langkamp v The United States  No. 15-764C  filed March 20, 2017,  which also cited to Nutt, the Court of Federal Claims concluded "that the plain language of the Settlement Agreement at issue in this dispute demonstrates that the government contracted to purchase annuities to make the future, periodic monthly and lump-sum payments required under that agreement.  The plain language of this agreement also demonstrates that the government did not unequivocally guarantee that it would make these payments in the event of a default by the annuity company.  And so, the undisputed material facts in this matter show that the government is not liable to plaintiff for the remaining annuity payments required under the agreement".Download 59 - Langkamp - Decision  #ELNY

 

 

New York City Structured Settlements 2022 | Structured Settlement Annuities in NY State

by John Darer CLU ChFC CeFT MSSC RSP CLTC

 

Which New York life insurance companies issue structured settlement annuities to fund New York structured settlements in Bronx, Brooklyn (Kings), Queens, Staten Island (Richmond) and New York (Manhattan), Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Orange, Putnam and Rockland Counties in 2022?

 

New York City Sunset

These insurance companies are the primary issuers of structured settlement annuities for the New York City area to fund NY personal injury, NY medical malpractice, NY wrongful death, auto accident, NY workers compensation settlements and to fund Structured Medicare Set Asides in 2022.

1. First Berkshire Hathway Life Insurance Company Home Office: Flushing, NY
2. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company   Home Office: New York, NY
3. Metropolitan Tower Life Insurance Company Home Office: Wilmington, DE
4. New York Life Insurance Company Home Office: New York, NY
5. Pacific Life and Annuity Company   Home Office: Newport Beach, CA
6. The Prudential Insurance Company of America Home Office: Newark, NJ
7. United States Life Insurance Company in The City of New York Home Office: New York, NY
8. USAA Life Insurance Company Home Office: San Antonio TX (where parties consent to using non admitted carrier)

Cases in surrounding counties such as Fairfield County, CT and Bergen County, NJ would substitute, Berkshire Hathaway Life Insurance Company of Nebraska, Pacific Life Insurance Company and American General Life Insurance Company for numbers 1, 6 and 8 respectively. Please note that a limited number of insurance companies underwrite structured settlements compared to other types of annuities.

For New York cases that go to a structured judgment, pursuant to CPLR Article 50A or Article 50B, the following of the above structured settlement annuity issuers will write annuities to fund 50A or 50B structured judgments:

 

1. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company
2. Pacific Life and Annuity Company
3. United States Life Insurance Company in The City of New York

The onerous acceleration provision for late payments in Articles 50A and 50B is the primary reason for why only three carriers write structured judgment annuities in New York.

Periodic Payment Reinsurance is available through National Indemnity Company (Berkshire Hathaway).

Structured settlement annuities are only offered through appointed structured settlement managing general agencies by their insurance licensed employees, or through affiliated insurance licensed independent agents and brokers.

Current as of July 3, 2022

Note that structured settlements can also be funded with United States Treasury Obligations. Market based options are also available.

What You Need To Know About Structured Settlement Quotes in New York

Structured Settlement quote form online.

Click left or call 646-849-1588 for New York City structured settlement quotes, employment structured settlement quotes, divorce structured settlement quotes, periodic payment reinsurance structured sales quotes for business installment sales and real estate installment

New York Structured Settlements

 

Last updated February 13, 2022

by John Darer CLU ChFC CeFT MSSC RSP CLTC

 

Which New York life insurance companies issue structured settlement annuities to fund New York structured settlements in Bronx, Brooklyn (Kings), Queens, Staten Island (Richmond) and New York (Manhattan), Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Orange, Putnam and Rockland Counties in 2022?

 

New York City Sunset

These insurance companies are the primary issuers of structured settlement annuities for the New York City area to fund NY personal injury, NY medical malpractice, NY wrongful death, auto accident, NY workers compensation settlements and to fund Structured Medicare Set Asides in 2022.

1. First Berkshire Hathway Life Insurance Company Home Office: Flushing, NY
2. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company   Home Office: New York, NY
3. Metropolitan Tower Life Insurance Company Home Office: Wilmington, DE
4. New York Life Insurance Company Home Office: New York, NY
5. Pacific Life and Annuity Company   Home Office: Newport Beach, CA
6. The Prudential Insurance Company of America Home Office: Newark, NJ
7. United States Life Insurance Company in The City of New York Home Office: New York, NY
8. USAA Life Insurance Company Home Office: San Antonio TX (where parties consent to using non admitted carrier)

Cases in surrounding counties such as Fairfield County, CT and Bergen County, NJ would substitute, Berkshire Hathaway Life Insurance Company of Nebraska, Pacific Life Insurance Company and American General Life Insurance Company for numbers 1, 6 and 8 respectively. Please note that a limited number of insurance companies underwrite structured settlements compared to other types of annuities.

For New York cases that go to a structured judgment, pursuant to CPLR Article 50A or Article 50B, the following of the above structured settlement annuity issuers will write annuities to fund 50A or 50B structured judgments:

 

1. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company
2. Pacific Life and Annuity Company
3. United States Life Insurance Company in The City of New York

The onerous acceleration provision for late payments in Articles 50A and 50B is the primary reason for why only three carriers write structured judgment annuities in New York.

Periodic Payment Reinsurance is available through National Indemnity Company (Berkshire Hathaway).

Structured settlement annuities are only offered through appointed structured settlement managing general agencies by their insurance licensed employees, or through affiliated insurance licensed independent agents and brokers.

Current as of July 3, 2022

Note that structured settlements can also be funded with United States Treasury Obligations. Market based options are also available.

What You Need To Know About Structured Settlement Quotes in New York

Structured Settlement quote form online.

Click left or call 646-849-1588 for New York City structured settlement quotes, employment structured settlement quotes, divorce structured settlement quotes, periodic payment reinsurance structured sales quotes for business installment sales and real estate installment

New York Structured Settlements

 

by John Darer CLU ChFC CeFT MSSC RSP CLTC

 

Which New York life insurance companies issue structured settlement annuities to fund New York structured settlements in Bronx, Brooklyn (Kings), Queens, Staten Island (Richmond) and New York (Manhattan), Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Orange, Putnam and Rockland Counties in 2022?

 

New York City Sunset

These insurance companies are the primary issuers of structured settlement annuities for the New York City area to fund NY personal injury, NY medical malpractice, NY wrongful death, auto accident, NY workers compensation settlements and to fund Structured Medicare Set Asides in 2022.

1. First Berkshire Hathway Life Insurance Company Home Office: Flushing, NY
2. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company   Home Office: New York, NY
3. Metropolitan Tower Life Insurance Company Home Office: Wilmington, DE
4. New York Life Insurance Company Home Office: New York, NY
5. Pacific Life and Annuity Company   Home Office: Newport Beach, CA
6. The Prudential Insurance Company of America Home Office: Newark, NJ
7. United States Life Insurance Company in The City of New York Home Office: New York, NY
8. USAA Life Insurance Company Home Office: San Antonio TX (where parties consent to using non admitted carrier)

Cases in surrounding counties such as Fairfield County, CT and Bergen County, NJ would substitute, Berkshire Hathaway Life Insurance Company of Nebraska, Pacific Life Insurance Company and American General Life Insurance Company for numbers 1, 6 and 8 respectively. Please note that a limited number of insurance companies underwrite structured settlements compared to other types of annuities.

For New York cases that go to a structured judgment, pursuant to CPLR Article 50A or Article 50B, the following of the above structured settlement annuity issuers will write annuities to fund 50A or 50B structured judgments:

 

1. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company
2. Pacific Life and Annuity Company
3. United States Life Insurance Company in The City of New York

by John Darer CLU ChFC CeFT MSSC RSP CLTC

 

Which New York life insurance companies issue structured settlement annuities to fund New York structured settlements in Bronx, Brooklyn (Kings), Queens, Staten Island (Richmond) and New York (Manhattan), Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Orange, Putnam and Rockland Counties in 2022?

 

New York City Sunset

These insurance companies are the primary issuers of structured settlement annuities for the New York City area to fund NY personal injury, NY medical malpractice, NY wrongful death, auto accident, NY workers compensation settlements and to fund Structured Medicare Set Asides in 2022.

1. First Berkshire Hathway Life Insurance Company Home Office: Flushing, NY
2. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company   Home Office: New York, NY
3. Metropolitan Tower Life Insurance Company Home Office: Wilmington, DE
4. New York Life Insurance Company Home Office: New York, NY
5. Pacific Life and Annuity Company   Home Office: Newport Beach, CA
6. The Prudential Insurance Company of America Home Office: Newark, NJ
7. United States Life Insurance Company in The City of New York Home Office: New York, NY
8. USAA Life Insurance Company Home Office: San Antonio TX (where parties consent to using non admitted carrier)

Cases in surrounding counties such as Fairfield County, CT and Bergen County, NJ would substitute, Berkshire Hathaway Life Insurance Company of Nebraska, Pacific Life Insurance Company and American General Life Insurance Company for numbers 1, 6 and 8 respectively. Please note that a limited number of insurance companies underwrite structured settlements compared to other types of annuities.

For New York cases that go to a structured judgment, pursuant to CPLR Article 50A or Article 50B, the following of the above structured settlement annuity issuers will write annuities to fund 50A or 50B structured judgments:

 

1. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company
2. Pacific Life and Annuity Company
3. United States Life Insurance Company in The City of New York

The onerous acceleration provision for late payments in Articles 50A and 50B is the primary reason for why only three carriers write structured judgment annuities in New York.

Periodic Payment Reinsurance is available through National Indemnity Company (Berkshire Hathaway).

Structured settlement annuities are only offered through appointed structured settlement managing general agencies by their insurance licensed employees, or through affiliated insurance licensed independent agents and brokers.

Current as of July 3, 2022

Note that structured settlements can also be funded with United States Treasury Obligations. Market based options are also available.

What You Need To Know About Structured Settlement Quotes in New York

Structured Settlement quote form online.

Click left or call 646-849-1588 for New York City structured settlement quotes, employment structured settlement quotes, divorce structured settlement quotes, periodic payment reinsurance structured sales quotes for business installment sales and real estate installment

New York Structured Settlements

 

by John Darer CLU ChFC CeFT MSSC RSP CLTC

 

Which New York life insurance companies issue structured settlement annuities to fund New York structured settlements in Bronx, Brooklyn (Kings), Queens, Staten Island (Richmond) and New York (Manhattan), Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Orange, Putnam and Rockland Counties in 2022?

 

New York City Sunset

These insurance companies are the primary issuers of structured settlement annuities for the New York City area to fund NY personal injury, NY medical malpractice, NY wrongful death, auto accident, NY workers compensation settlements and to fund Structured Medicare Set Asides in 2022.

1. First Berkshire Hathway Life Insurance Company Home Office: Flushing, NY
2. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company   Home Office: New York, NY
3. Metropolitan Tower Life Insurance Company Home Office: Wilmington, DE
4. New York Life Insurance Company Home Office: New York, NY
5. Pacific Life and Annuity Company   Home Office: Newport Beach, CA
6. The Prudential Insurance Company of America Home Office: Newark, NJ
7. United States Life Insurance Company in The City of New York Home Office: New York, NY
8. USAA Life Insurance Company Home Office: San Antonio TX (where parties consent to using non admitted carrier)

Cases in surrounding counties such as Fairfield County, CT and Bergen County, NJ would substitute, Berkshire Hathaway Life Insurance Company of Nebraska, Pacific Life Insurance Company and American General Life Insurance Company for numbers 1, 6 and 8 respectively. Please note that a limited number of insurance companies underwrite structured settlements compared to other types of annuities.

For New York cases that go to a structured judgment, pursuant to CPLR Article 50A or Article 50B, the following of the above structured settlement annuity issuers will write annuities to fund 50A or 50B structured judgments:

 

1. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company
2. Pacific Life and Annuity Company
3. United States Life Insurance Company in The City of New York

Structured Settlements | Don't Run Out of Money Before You Run Out of Life

by John Darer CLU ChFC MSSC CeFT RSP CLTC

Your money or your life? How easy is it to deal with a lump sum settlement? 

An often cited statistic is that "90% of people have no money left after 5 years" focuses on stereotypical wasteful dissipation.

The failure rate for retirement account withdrawals, when accounts run out of money, using the old "rule of thumb" of 4 percent per year withdrawal rate is as high as 57 percent according to Retiring on CDs Not Viable, by Sheyna Steiner April 17, 2013, for Bankrate.com. Even a 3% withdrawal rate has a more than 20% failure rate for all asset allocations. Steiner observes "... that it may be a very long time before Americans can feel safe in retirement without purchasing a guaranteed income product. She asks "Is this going to be the age of annuities?"

In a fair extrapolation from the retirement study, which appears to be based on a Monte Carlo analysis,

1. Structured settlement annuity guarantees are an essential part of the settlement recovery to produce core income
   
2. Structured settlement annuitants should think long and hard about an aggressive sales pitch from a buyer of structured settlement payments teasing them into a discounted lump sum
   

4structures.com LLC offers a variety of income annuities and other income planning solutions, which provide contractually guaranteed income backed by some of the largest financial institutions in America.

• Structured Settlement Annuities
• Structured Attorney Fee Annuities
  
• Deferred Income Annuities  (DIA)
• Single Premium Imemdiate Annuities  (SPIA)
• Treasury Funded Structured Settlements (TFSS)
• Insurance Company backed Funding Agreements
• Periodic Payment Reinsurance.

In addition, the company offers other income protection solutions such as disability insurance, disability ovehead expense plans, disability buyout, key person disability coverage and long term care solutions.

For more information please contact me at 888-325-8640 or cell 203-561-6560

New York CPLR 50A /50B Structured Judgments| An Interest Rate Bonanza

by John Darer® CLU ChFC CSSC RSP

Negative discount rates, a phenomenon of the low interest rate environment, combined with static statutory growth rates and static pre-judgment and post-judgment interest rates has created a bonanza for New York personal injury plaintiffs. New York CPLR 50A/50B structured judgment expert John Darer® discusses the phenomenon, its potential impact on case values, and the need for CPLR 50A/50B expertise in this informative pod cast.

Call John Darer at 888-325-8640 for a CPLR 50A or CPLR 50B consultation on your pending New York personal injury or medical malpractice case.

New York CPLR § 5003-a Prompt Settlement Payment: Defendant Not Structured Settlement Broker!

by John Darer® CLU ChFC MSSC RSP CLTC

New York CPLR § 5003-a | When Does the Clock Start to Run?

The structured settlement broker for the Defendant on a recent case got their nose out of joint after I instructed the plaintiff lawyer to send directly to defense lawyer, one original of the settlement agreement  and release, qualified assignment agreement and Stipulation of Discontinuance by Certified Mail, with the remaining originals to be routed through me and then on via my counterpart.  But why?

New York's CPLR 5003-a was enacted in 1992 to encourage prompt payment of settlements

(see Cunha v Shapiro, 42 AD3d 95, 101; Siegel, Practice Commentaries, McKinney's Cons Laws of NY, Book 7B, CPLR C5003-a: 121). The statute requires any settling defendant, subject to certain exceptions (set forth in CPLR 5003-a[b], [c], [d]), to pay all sums due to any settling plaintiff "within twenty-one days of tender, by the settling plaintiff to the settling defendant[s], of a duly executed release and a stipulation discontinuing [the] action executed on behalf of the settling plaintiff"(CPLR 5003-a[a])   When the release and stipulation of discontinuance are tendered by mail, the 21-day period is measured from receipt of the documents (see Leipold v Arnot Ogden Med. Ctr., 46 AD3d 1299, 1300; Cunha v Shapiro, 42 AD3d at 101). If the settling defendant fails to pay the sum due under the settlement agreement within 21 days of tender of the required documents, the statute authorizes the plaintiff to enter, without further notice, a judgment in the amount of the settlement, which is to include interest, costs, and disbursements (see CPLR 5003-a[e]).  Source: David M. Gottlieb, Esquire.

The statute does not appear to have any provision for the "21 day clock" starting to run when the documents are received at the office of the structured settlement broker.

I'm certainly willing to be corrected if I'm wrong, but the statute does not appear to have any provision for the "21 day clock" starting to run when the documents are received at the office of the structured settlement broker. Some structured settlement brokers conducting business that involves cases with New York jurisdiction have their paperwork handled by remote independent contractors to the structured settlement broker, who are not even based in the same office; in some cases not even from the same state.

Is the structured settlement broker the agent of the Defendant for purposes of "tender" or is it an agent of the insurance company? How about the independent contractor who is handling the administration for the broker?

Typically structured settlement brokers when working for defendants are retained by an adjuster for the insurer. In some cases the defense attorney retains them with the knowledge and approval of the insurer or market leader.

It is clear that the defense attorney is an agent of the Defendant and thus, in my personal opinion, one original set of documents should be delivered there.

Looking for a parallel, with the disclosures that must be made under the New York Structured Settlement Protection Act (CPLR 5-1702 et seq.), it's clear the obligation is on "the Defendant or the Defendant's legal representative", NOT the structured settlement broker or the defendant's insurer.

"§ 5-1702. Initial disclosure of structured settlement terms In negotiating a structured settlement of claims brought by or on behalf of a claimant who is domiciled in this state, the defendant or defendant's legal representative shall disclose in writing to the claimant or the claimant's legal representative all of the following information that is not otherwise specified in the structured settlement agreement"

Delays which result in failure to comply with the statute can prove costly for the defendant or insurer and thus, in my personal opinion, noses ought to stay in in their groove.

For more information here is a good article about New York's statute concerning prompt payment following settlement. In a 2nd department case decided in 2010 and discussed in the aforementioned article, the Appellate Division overturned a lower court ruling that supported the defendant's contention that the completion of a IRS Form W-9 was a condition precedent for payment of the sum due in a settlement of a personal injury claim.

 

 

 

Structured Settlements Can Make a "Win-Win For Both Sides" New York Plaintiff Lawyer

by John Darer CLU ChFC MSSC CeFT RSP CLTC

Despite the over the top scaremongering used by certain settlement planners to get business , a leading New York plaintiff lawyer suggests that structured settlements may be a "win win" that enables an otherwise impossible settlement"

In Protecting the Catastrophically injured Plaintiff's Recovery, Michael W. Kessler, Esq. states:

"Although a structure cannot "turn water into wine", shifting certain risks to annuity issuers can sometimes create an opportunity in which the plaintiff gets more than he or she would get under a 50-A or 50-B judgment AND still enable the Defendant to pay less than it would otherwise be obligated to pay. This can make it a win win for both sides".

Article 50A of the New York Civil Practice Law and Rules (CPLR) is New York's periodic payment of judgments statute dealing with periodic payment of damages on medical, dental or pediatric malpractice cases.

Article 50B of the New York Civil Practice Law and Rules (CPLR) is New York's periodic payment of judgments statute dealing with payment of damages on personal injury, injury to property and wrongful death actions.