If you and the defendant agree on a structured settlement, the defendant (or the defendant’s insurance company) will transfer the part of the settlement that is to be structured to a different insurer, often a life insurance company that specializes in handling structured settlements. You want to make sure that the company that pays the money out over the years is very highly rated, because, if the company fails or declares bankruptcy, your structured settlement is gone. This means that there is a slight element of risk in a structured settlement.
Almost everything about a structured settlement can be negotiated, including terms such as:
- the length of the structure
- how often you want to receive money (once a year, twice a year, monthly, etc.)
- how much money you want to receive in each payment
- whether you want a lump sum payment at the end, and
- whether you want the payments to end if you die before the end of the structure or whether you want the payments to continue to your heirs.
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