Bogus. The Woodbridge structured settlement vaudeville act continues. 
It’s pretty clear that their latest move is meant to mislead consumers with false and confusing ad copy, making people think they’re offering free annuity quotes. In reality, they’re just giving quotes for the cash they’d pay in exchange for structured settlement payment rights.
Moreover as I covered recently, when you purchase a cash flow from a company like Woodbridge you are not purchasing an annuity. You are purchasing a product that DOES NOT require a license to sell, that is heavily underregulated.
The factoring industry in general, should steer away from such misleading business practices and should be doing what it can overtly to encourage Woodbridge and others to change their behavior. While it is my understanding that Woodbridge is not a member of the National Association of Settlement Purchasers (NASP), what is NASP doing to condemn such practice as representative of the largest sector of the secondary market?
I have nothing personal against Woodbridge (it’s just visceral…LOL) but is the inaction of state insurance regulators to marshall their forces against these heathens, simply fuel for anarchy?
- Consider the warped regulatory logic that one half of an industry is to be regulated when the other half is not
- Consider that structured settlement protection acts come under state insurance laws, yet for cash no pushers:
- There is no state or federal licensing requirement despite the fact that many states require licensure for life settlements (a protection primarily for seniors trageted by some of the same companies, for cash in exchange for life insurance payment rights)
- The Federal Trade Commission does nothing to enforce truth in advertising laws in this area.
- The can say and do what they bloody well please while regulators AND legislators appear to turn the other cheek
With all due respect to the excellent work of many judges throughout the USA, whose efforts serve as a figurative protective dike, in my opinion, structured settlement protection acts are fundamentally flawed laws that fail to provide one segment of the most vulnerable Americans (injury victims) with parity afforded to another vulnerable group (seniors).
Seniors are accorded significant protections when it comes to solicitation of insurance products, particularly annuities. Woodbridge is calling what it is peddling “free annuity quotes”. In many states a licensed agent or broker must take 8 or more credit hours on senior marketing. WHY NOT INJURY VICTIMS?
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