Structured Settlements 4Real® Blog: Structured Settlements | Settlement Planning News and John Darer Reviews

Non Stick Surface Great For Cooking But Not For Structured Settlement Websites

by John Darer® CLU ChFC CSSC RSP

Remember that old adage that it costs more to attract a new customer than to retain an old one?  Well the same holds true for website visitors.  A sticky site is a place people will visit again. By creating an atmosphere people like to revisit you increase their exposure to your product or service.

In a market that does some important things but relatively speaking has a narrow focus we examined the leading websites in the structured settlement space looking at key word relevancy (what key words attract the most visitors) using the Alexa search metric (at time of writing).

Structured Settlements 4Real®  (John Darer blog)    37.6% 1 month bounce rate

John Darer, John Darer Blog, Internal Rate of Return, What is a structured settlement?, Structured Settlement Blog, John Darer structured settlements, Structured Settlements 4Real

4structures.com, LLC   18.2%  1month bounce rate

John Darer, John Darer structured settlements, Structured Settlement Broker, Settlement Planner, Structured Settlements, John Darer structured annuity

Speaking of Settlements   11.1%  1 month bounce rate

Scottsdale PLR, John Darer, Structured settlement experts, mount skis hindert, qsf weather new york, jim orr email address,

**On the other hand, just because you have relevant key words doesn't mean that your web site has stickiness**.

Examples

Beyond Structured Settlements (Hindert blog)   86.7% 1 month bounce rate

Structured settlement blog, Patrick hindert, beyond structured settlements, aig wiki, settlement planning, settlement planner, structured settlements

EPS Settlements 80% 3 month Bounce Rate (no 1 month bounce rate available)

structured settlement company, eps settlement group, structured settlements, mass tort settlement services

Is There A Lesson to be Learned?

The rest of the industry may as well go to school on the foolish, who simply don't get it.  Those in this group are companies that experience a significant percentage of keywords irrelevant to their business and a high bounce rate.

One firm almost exclusively uses derogatory posts  to draw traffic to its primary company website.

  While the author of THAT blog may feel smug, the "yolk" is on them because 33.44% of the search traffic to its web site has absolutely nothing to do with its business, including a derogatory reference to this author that is responsible for over 13% of the search traffic .

Compare this to its competitors' key word relevance:

Settlement Capital  60% 1 month bounce rate

Sell settlments,structured settlements, structured settlement, sell structured settlements, buy settlements

Settlement Quotes, LLC  67.6% 1 month Bounce Rate

sell structured settlement, sell structured settlements, structured settlement, structured settlements, annuity payments, cash for structured settlements

JG Wentworth 59.8% 1 Month Bounce Rate

JG Wentworth, sell structured settlements, sell structured settlement, sell annuity, sell annuity payments, structured settlement

Sovereign Funding  37.1% 1 Month Bounce Rate

structured settlement, structured settlements, cash for structured settlement, cash for structured settlements, sell structured settlement, cash for structured settlement payments, sell settlement

Stone Street Capital 50%  1 Month Bounce Rate

sell structured settlement, sell structured settlements, stone street capital, sell my annuity, sell settlement, structured settlement loans

Bounce Rate= visits to a website that consist of a single page turn.

 

 

Florida Insurance Advertising Compliance Issue For Structured Settlement Industry

by Structured Settlement Watchdog

The Florida Department of Financial Services states in its April 2010 newsletter "we continue to see a pattern of noncompliance" in insurance advertising. The state regulatory agency has created a resource to assist agents and brokers to keep their insurance business in compliance. The PULSE newsletter was sent to all Florida licensed agents and brokers on April 5, 2010.

Some of the non compliant advertisers appear to be members of the structured settlement and settlement planning industry. What a pity!

This author has posted several blog posts on Structured Settlements 4Real and Legal Broadcast Network's Speaking of Settlements describing the compliance issue in another state, New York, yet of those firms with websites, only 4structures.com, LLC and Forge Consulting, LLC appear to be in compliance at the time of this writing.

This author sent an email on May 13, 2009 to the NSSTA President and its former Executive Director. In that email I questioned whether in light of  Principle VI of its published Code of Ethics (which requires compliance with state laws) NSSTA has a duty to (1) inform its members (2) take a proactive role to assure that at the very least those professional members (and the organizations they represent) who serve on its board and committees make an effort to set an example in this area?

The NSSTA response was to request a list of names of brokers who appeared to be non compliant as well as stating that a request was made to add the subject to the June 3, 2009 Board of Directors meeting..  Yet 11 months later, why does this easily fixable problem still fester like an unattended boil?

 

Now a similar issue arises with Florida and no doubt other states. Here is an excerpt from the recent Florida Department of Financial Services publication:

Florida Administrative Code 69B-150.013  Identity of Insurer.

(1)(a) The name of the actual insurer shall be stated in all of the insurer’s advertisements.

(b) The form number or numbers of the policy advertised shall be stated in any invitation to contract.

(c) An advertisement shall not use a trade name, any insurance group designation, name of the parent company of the insurer, name of a particular division of the insurer, name of any reinsurere  (sic) or any other party, service mark, slogan, symbol or other device which would be misleading as to the true identity of the insurer or create the false impression that the parent company or reinsurer or any other party would have any responsibility for the financial obligation of the insurer.

(6) The use of letters, initials, or symbols of the corporate name or a trademark that would have the tendency or capacity to mislead or deceive the public as to the true identity of the insurer is prohibited unless the true, correct and complete name of the insurer is in close conjunction and in the same size type as the letters, initials, or symbols of the corporate name or trademark.

(7) The use of the name of an agency or other nomenclature in type, size and location so as to have the capacity and tendency to mislead or deceive as to the true identity of the insurer is prohibited.

(10) All advertisements used by agents, producers, brokers or solicitors of an insurer must have prior written approval or prior oral approval with subsequent written confirmation of approval by the insurer.

If one does a brief survey of websites associated with structured settlement industry today one sees a number  of websites with: 

• Full legal name of insurance company not displayed
• City and State of Home Office of insurer not displayed ( a New York Insurance law requirement)
• Use of insurer marks without the full legal name and in the same size and type as the mark.
• A communication that inaccurately implies that an insurer's obligations are backed by Berkshire Hathaway (see 1(c) above and our story from 11/2009).
• Apparent violations of the prohibition on advertising of state guaranty funds

Why does it seem that little is done until names are published, or threatened to be published on the Internet?  To wit, the industry's credential puffery sickness.

It seems to me that it would make sense to develop a "blue sky" way of displaying the information that incorporates the various state requirements. Furthermore, for the umpteenth time, the trade association should provide a best practices digest to its members that is updated annually. Is there any benefit  to anyone if industry members are not in compliance?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How is The Primary Structured Settlement Market Dealing With Structured Settlement Factoring Advertising

by John Darer CLU ChFC MSSC RSP CLTC

J.G. Wentworth's own statistics suggest that less than 5% of structured settlements have been factored yet some attorneys shun structured settlements because of their fear that their clients will factor their settlements. Is this fear rational or irrational? This post examines the fear, explores the root of the fear and suggests a solution.

I was at an ABA TIPS conference in Washington in November 2005 where I was speaking on a panel about structured settlements. At the speakers dinner I overheard a fear mongering stock broker repeatedly emphasizing to anyone that would listen that structured settlements can be sold and the attendant risk to their clients.

The structured settlement industry has done a generally poor job of capturing advertising "shelf space" particularly on the Internet. Only a handful of primary market players regularly place high in the search results. Many companies have not found a way to effectively compete with the hedge fund and foreign money that is (one way or another) pumped into the advertising budgets of the likes of JG Wentworth, Peachtree and others. 

As one time visitor to the Galapagos Islands I gained a natural appreciation for the Darwinian theory of evolution or survival of the species, so I'm not whining about silver spoons, deeper pockets or ineffectual efforts of some competitors. What I am saying is that the advertising approach of some factoring companies may be harmful to the sale of structured settlements and ultimately the opportunities for such companies. If JG Wentworth is truly the "thought leader" that their "snookems" Pat HIndert characterizes them,  then why have they done so little about their over saturated advertising? So what if it's memorable.  If you pull your pants down in public it might also be memorable but distasteful. Same goes for Peachtree Settlement Funding,123 Lump Sum, Woodbridge and others.

Fraudulent advertising with the "cash now" message does not help build prestige for the factoring industry For some attorneys it erodes confidence in the structured settlement product and creates an open opportunity for competing products. I know I know. You try to explain it away by  giving them a "tuppence" now or say 90 days is "somewhat like now" depending on your perspective but who are we kidding?

 

 

 

 

The ESS-ence of "Attention to Detail"

Some say that New York water is the secret to making the best bagels in the world. I submit to you that those that drink it make for some structured settlement consultants with alarming "attention to detail"

• A few short years ago it was our "friends" at Buffalo based Forge Consulting who introduced the "plantiff" concept to a stunned audience of trial lawyers.
• Then late last year another New York structured settlement broker gave us "structered settlements" which go well "with some fava beans and a nice Chianti"
• The New York legal scion who promotes "quailed assignments"and NOW featuring on Broadway....
• Brian Schachter, "Le Shack" , of Esquire Settlement Services ("ESS") sent an email blast on Friday March 12, 2010 to what just might be thousands of the nation's trial lawyers featuring the headline

"Extrodinary Needs Require Extrodinary Solutions" *

The email blast includes a dead link intended to be affiliate Millennium Settlements which the search engine instead, due to lack of the ESS-ential running of spell check, amusingly suggests the alternative "Mill Ennui Um Settlements".  Loosely translated from French this means "1,000 Boredom... Um... settlements"

In "a case of first impression" it's a ROFLMAO.

"Notre ennui, nos moeurs fades sont le resultat du systeme politique"  from 1832 Honore de Balzac La Femme De Trente Ans Chapter 3

 

* a copy of the email is available

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

National "Plaintiffs" Structured Settlement Firm's Needlessly Misleading Advertising

bu John Darer CLU ChFC MSSC RSP

Another national settlement planning firm, has tripped over the use of an absolute descriptive in their advertising

Despite common industry knowledge that a principal of the firm does defense work, the firm's website proclaims " We are solely retained by the injured party to create settlement plans that are tailored to meet the needs of your client. Not the defendant".  Hmmm.

In January 2010 The East Bay Claims Association News Network published an announcement made to the association by the firm concerning one of the firm's associates.  EBCA is an association of Insurance Claims Professionals. Are we missing something? Is networking among claims adjusters a "well known source of business" for "solely being retained by the injured party"?

The firm knows who they are as do many of us. Needless to say there are significant ethical concerns about this phenomenon. How many readers of such advertisements are unduly influenced by the misleading advertising?

Clearly the firm believes that plaintiff attorneys assign a high value to working with firms that are solely retained by the injured party

Yet if even one person in the firm does a single case for the defense the firm cannot ethically make the aforementioned advertising claim.  So why make it?

Why not crawl out of the pigeon hole that you painted yourself into, come clean and focus on your qualities as a settlement planning expert?

Structured Settlement Planning Pitches to Trial Lawyers-Separating the Wheat From The Chaff

by John Darer CLU ChFC CSSC RSP

There is no question of the value to a plaintiff or plaintiff attorney retaining their own structured settlement planner or settlement consultant.  What is in question are the methods used by certain structured settlement planners to trial lawyers, to get the business. Otherwise bright practitioners elect to generalize with sometimes outdated and sometimes inaccurate information.

This post will analyze some of the alleged  "dirty secrets" and separate the wheat from the chaff:

Several structured settlement planners name the following as the "Top 10 Reasons The Defense Tries to Dictate Your Structured Settlement"

To save money with...

10. In-house annuity programs that are non-competitive and huge profit centers

Comment:

If we define "in house annuity program"  as a structured settlement program where there is an effort to place the annuity business with a related annuity market, there are very few in house annuity programs in effect in 2010. The few that do exist in 2010 do permit other choices other than the related life insurance company. It is worthwhile pointing out that the company making the point may have a bias because it may be one of the structured settlement brokers which had their agency appointment with a particular life company terminated in 2009.

9. Approved lists of defense-loyal annuity brokers

Comment:

Absent a qualified settlement fund. a structured settlement transaction impacts the defense as well as the plaintiff. This author opines that there is justification for representation of both sides to a transaction. This author also opines that this is the majority opinion. Inexplicably one of the structured settlement brokers who makes this claim is known to do defense work.

8. Defense broker commission rebates and kickbacks

Comments:

By the same logic, If you are a plaintiff should you question how much money the person you have been referred to contributes to your lawyer's trade association and the extent to which that influences the decision? This author has a copy of an email from a New York lawyer soliciting structured settlement annuity business through the trial lawyer association list serve on behalf of a licensed insurance agency on the basis of the agency's $60,000 contribution.

If you are a plaintiff in Colorado and referred to John Bat of High Impact Structured Settlements you should ask your lawyer if your lawyer has availed himself or herself of discounts on printing services offered by a related company for structured settlement consideration.

With respect to allegation #8 above, this author challenges anyone making this claim to provide present day (2010) evidence to support this claim.  If you are a plaintiff attorney you should too.  Most "evidence" presented on the offensive websites is over 8 years old. This 8 year old evidence is presented as part of the "standard due diligence kit" supplied by one of the firms making the allegation.

7. Post-settlement medical underwriting and re-underwriting

Comment:

This author has encountered only one instance of this in his career. The occurrence was in the last 3 years. The insurer's broker quoted on a standard basis. A large settlement occurred shortly before a verdict exonerating the defendant was rendered. We can only speculate  why the defense attempted to hold the terms of the settlement to the standard annuity with the P&C carrier's own life subsidiary, while it was $150,000 better with the rated age WE obtained with the same insurer!

Ultimately it boiled down to the peculiar circumstances of the case and plaintiffs' attorney's understanding of what was on offer. Having their own consultant made the difference in the plaintiff attorney's getting the minor the best yield on the settlement dollar.

6. Daily rate annuity pricing

Comment:

Daily rate annuity pricing is available without regard to the party you represent. Daily rate prices take into account the daily spot rates for assets that must be purchased to match up against the deferred liabilities taken on by the life insurer when the structured settlement is funded. Due to the time it takes to turn around daily rate pricing, in peak periods it is generally a good practice to nail down the plan format prior to going for the daily rate. Please note that a daily rate price may not be better than the standard rate. One should not commit to a specific structured settlement until confirming that a daily rate price has been quoted.

5. Jumbo-case annuity discounts

Comment:

See answer to #6. Same idea.

4. Cash-refund settlement options 

Comment:

Cash refund is a costly provision that is designed to return the cost of the annuity to the owner in the event the annuitant dies before the cost has been consumed in benefits paid out.  It is most often used where there is a statutory obligation  to pay medical bills, or other obligations of the defendant, or employer (in workers comp case) that cease upon death or by some other triggering event. It is obviously something that would be negotiated. The document that creates the periodic payment obligation is supposed to clearly spell out the terms of the periodic payment obligation,  including any applicable cash refund!

3. Last-minute switching of annuity carriers

Comment:

To be sure we're on the same page, this is assumed to be where a structured settlement is agreed to, the carrier is agreed to and then there is a unilateral "sudden switch" which is assumed to be detrimental to the plaintiff. While I have never run into this in my career, it seems to me that a document which confirms the settlement, detailing the carriers to be used AND, more importantly, the fact that it isn't a settlement until the plaintiff signs would serve to dispose of this issue. Clearly an alert plaintiff or plaintiff attorney should notice a switch in carriers.

2. Outdated arguments about why plaintiffs can't control their own structures

Comment:

Those outdated arguments are as outdated as the allegation being made.

And the number one reason the Defense dictates your structured settlement:

Cost savings from dictating structured settlement placements to fight for even more tort reform legislation! 

Comments:

A plausible argument that has been made but never proven to have a direct connection.

CONCLUSION:

There are many reasons for plaintiff and plaintiff attorneys to retain their own structured settlement planner.

This author encourages all "plaintiff loyal structured settlement planners" and others who provide advice to injured parties to focus on their own qualifications and value proposition. They should only offer valid reasons for their being retained that can be supported by current evidence.

Terminated Structured Settlement Brokerages Need to To Update Websites

by Structured Settlement Watchdog

We understand that, In December 2009, one of the structured settlement annuity insurance companies has terminated the appointments of 5 structured settlement general agencies. The purported reason for the terminations was to assure the continuation of a higher level of service amidst staffing cutbacks.

Pipeline agreements are not direct appointments

While it is possible that such terminated structured settlement agencies will be able to establish "pipeline agreements" with other appointed general agencies, or individual agents or tehir agents could join another agency on the date of termination, it became inappropriate for the terminated general agencies to advertise that they are directly appointed with (a list of life) insurance companies" that includes the one that they have been terminated from. To continue to say so would be inaccurate in light of the developments.

Pay attention to confidentiality of medical information

Plaintiffs and plaintiff lawyers must  also be aware of and seek a disclosure from these companies that confidential medical information submitted for rated age determinations from the terminating annuity issuer must see an additional set of eyes in order to happen. In other words the terminated broker will no longer be able to submit the information directly to the annuity issuer and must instead submit these documents through its pipeline partner.

This author looks to the relevant company or companies to update their websites forthwith, to bring them in compliance with state insurance advertising statutes, the code of ethics of the National Structured Settlements Trade Association and the Standards of Professional Conduct of the Society of Settlement Planners.

 

 

Stone Street Capital HELPS Structured Settlement Industry?!

Back in May, David Lewis at Stone Street Capital asks the following question on the Stone Street blog:

"Should I be Concerned About My Insurance Company Making My Annuity Payments?"

He then gives this answer:

 

"The financial downturn has hit insurance companies, but you should not panic or take any action that you might regret.  Insurance companies are regulated by State authorities and annuities are backed up by state guarantee funds.  So you should feel safe.  There have been no insurance company missed payments on structured settlement annuities during the current financial crisis that we are aware of".  

The lack of regulation of factoring companies by state insurance departments apparently permits unlicensed  factoring companies to discuss structured settlement consumer protections while licensed agents cannot. 

The incongruity is glaring!

One state insurance department even felt uncomfortable with a passive web page posted by an insurance agent with links to each state guaranty association and phone numbers specifically designed to defray calls FROM the agent. The reason for the prohibition in advertising is that regulators do not want consumers buying insurance products from inferior companies .

State regulators may want to rethink their strategy not to require licensing of factoring companies. As it stands now among the only people who can "legally" answer the questions of consumers concerning the state guaranty funds are the cash now pushers, or state insurance departments. The irony is that the motive behind the prohibition on disclosure is consumer protection (to avoid being solicited to buy into a weakened insurer based on the consumer protection) and the business of the factoring company is to get people to transfer their rights to receive the stable insurance investment (annuity) that they have made. Also worth noting is that some such companies may be operating in your state without even an authorization to transact business by your Secretary of State.

"Statistically 90% of lump sum settlements are gone IN LESS THAN TWO YEARS" Say New York Settlement Consultants

The Lien Resolution Group says on its web site** that "statistically 90% of lump sum settlements are gone in less than TWO YEARS". WOW, NO... NO... I Mean WOW!

Forget The Rutter Group and their tortoise like five years, these esteemed industry colleagues apparently have the statistics for a TWO YEAR bust.

If they have the evidence Brett Newman and Leo Dunn Fox should share it!  And THEN they deserve to be held on the shoulders of the entire industry for coming up with the statistic that puts the need for a new dissipation study to rest! Bravo boys! 

 

 

** as of September 29, 2009 830pm EDT

NSSTA Position on "Promoting the CSSC" Certification

The National Structured Settlement Trade Association has posted a web page about "Promoting the CSSC", a settlement industry professional certification program that it administers. The page came about after conversations between officials at the University of Notre Dame and the National Structured Settlement Trade Association following a letter (Download Letter to University of Notre Dame concerning CSSC) that this author sent to the University of Notre Dame (also see archive post 3 below) with a request for its position on the extensive credential puffery fomented by certain NSSTA members, including members of the NSSTA Board of Directors, and the NSSTA itself (in a June 2009 press release announcing 2 new Board of Directors).

The publication of the subject matter on the new NSSTA web page is a welcome positive development that should have been in place from the inception of the certification program over 15 years ago. This author encourages NSSTA to circulate communication to all of its members alerting them to this web page and reminding them about their ethical requirements, under the NSSTA Code of Ethics to promote the certification properly.

There is now no excuse for ANY NSSTA member, or other settlement professional ,to simply state that they earned their CSSC from Notre Dame , particularly NSSTA Board members, like industry veterans James E. Logan (who was even copied on the letter to University of Notre Dame in an email on July 14, 2009 sent 532pm Download 1138388839 highlight added for emphasis today-not in original email ), or Doug Brand, who should be setting an example, in my opinion.  Logan's bio page  at 101pm September 13, 2009 reads "University of Notre Dame (Certified Structured Settlement Consultant - CSSC). Another bio NSSTA Board member, Doug Brand appears on Lexis Nexis and states that "He earned his Certified Structured Settlement Consultant (CSSC) diploma from the University of Notre Dame in September 2000"

 

A third NSSTA Board member referred to in a prior post has changed his profile on his company website to more accurately reflect his credentials. In this author's opinion NSSTA Board members must be held to the highest standard, without exception, even those revered in the industry as Jim Logan and Doug Brand. How about it Jim and Doug? 

For the record, this author regrets having to begin naming individuals. What choice is there when even after NSSTA posts guidelines its own leaders are non compliant?

One has to consider that

(1) fair notice has been given (posts below, emails to NSSTA)

(2) the information is ALREADY in the public domain 

(3) the information is of public interest and

(4) the fact that NSSTA has only recently posted a web page about promoting the CSSC (after 15 years) is irrelevant because nothing has changed in relation to what the program is (or has been) in relation to NSSTA and University of Notre Dame.

(5) the amount of labor to make the correction can be measured in minutes and cost to make the correction is minimal (not that cost should have any bearing on ethics for something that should have been right in the first place)  

All NSSTA members are encouraged to view their own profiles on the Internet, including social media, to assure that they are not misrepresenting the CSSC certification.

Archive of Articles This Author Has Written to Address the Problem

1. Notre Dame Responds to CSSC Promotion Concerns  July 15, 2009

2. Notre Dame asked for Position on CSSC Representations About Associations with School-2  July 14, 2009

3. Notre Dame asked for Position on CSSC Representations About Associations with School-1 July 14, 2009

4. Certified Structured Settlements Blowing Hot Air About Credentials  July 12, 2009

5. Florida Annuities Fraud law...A Sign of Things To Come Elsewhere February 13, 2009

6. Some Structured Settlement Consultants Shamelessly Puff Their Credentials January 17, 2009

7. Settlement Planner's Credential Hype Is Misleading April 26, 2008

8. Do You See Yourself As A Certified False Advertiser December 5, 2007

9. 4Days In the Vicinity of Touchdown Jesus Does Not Make You One of The Fighting Irish October 18, 2007

10. Structured Settlement Broker and Settlement Planner Credentials March 11, 2006

11. American Settlement Fund (JG Wentworth) Structured Settlement Advertising Wall of Shame December 2, 2005