by Structured Settlement Watchdog
Selling Your Structured Settlement (SYSS), a Missouri based factoring website run by Nicholas John Jackson, published a “News” item on July 7, 2012 entitled “Would You Take A Structured Settlement from The Hartford?’
SYSS/Nicholas John Jackson “reports”
“Only slightly deterred by the decision against the company in 2010, Hartford has re-entered the structured settlement annuity market vowing to expand its annuity business by sugarcoating the shady practices that caused them to hastily exit the market for five years during Spencer v. Hartford”
Uh, not exactly..
FACTS
- At the time of the Nick Jackson’s SYSS posting Hartford Life Insurance Company had been 3 months post withdrawal from the structured settlement market place again.
- Hartford did not hastily exit the market for 5 years during Spencer v Hartford. It sold structured settlement annuities throughout the litgation. It exited the market for a little over one year, for reasons other than Spencer v Hartford. The company withdrew in November 2009 and returned in the Spring of 2011. Mark Wahlstrom and John Darer covered the story for Legal Broadcast Network on October 30, 2009 here
- The withdrawal in 2012 was part of an omnibus withdrawal from the individual annuity market place.
- “Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. has announced it will stop selling individual annuities and seek buyers for parts of its life-insurance unit” Bloomberg News March 21, 2012
- Hartford Life Insurance Compamy Exit Structured Settlements 2012 March 21, 2012
- The Hartford is the insurer for the American Association for Retired Persons (AARP) Auto and Home insurance program
Another Seriously Misguided SYSS Post
ISell Your Annuity for Cash | S.Y.S.S.
False statement by SYSS/Nick Jackson #1
“Having an annuity is great, but if you need to have cash now, SYSS will purchase all or part of your annuity so you can use of the lump sum almost immediately”.
Why Nick Jackson/SYSS is Wrong
- SYSS does not and cannot buy structured settlement annuities.
- The SYSS statement is 100% false.
- At best it shows that the operator of SYSS does n’t knwo what he’s doing.
- A structured settlement factoring transaction involves the purchase and assisgnment of structured settlement payment rights or receivables. It does not involve the purchase of an annuity.
False Statement by Nick Jackson / SYSS #2
“There are many reasons to cash out your annuity. At best, you’re losing the equity from it hand over fist; at worst, the institution which holds your policy may or may not be solvent in the very near future. Or perhaps your current financial circumstance simply requires a bigger inflow of cash than you are now receiving from your periodic annuity.”
“More and more we hear the call that ‘it’s time to become your own central banker.’ It’s a warning to the wise in preparation for the worst case scenario, which would be that the US actually falls off the approaching ‘financial cliff.’” — SYSS post, 11/23/2012
Why Nick Jackson/SYSS is Wrong
- Nobody has equity in a structured settlement annuity. They have the right to receive periodic payments which total considerably more than the cost of the structured settlement annuity.
- Assuming the structured settlement payments reporesent of damages for personal phyical injury or physical sickness, or workers compensation, or wrongful death, payments are received income tax free. See IRC 104(a)(1) and IRC 104(a)(2) as well as IRC 130
- Jackson’s hype and buzz words “More and more we hear the call that “it’s time to become your own central banker.” It’s a warning to the wise in preparation for the worst case scenario, which would be that the US actually falls off the approaching ‘financial cliff.” says Jackson in the 11/23/2012 post.
- The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (Pub.L. 112–240, H.R. 8, 126 Stat. 2313, enacted January 2, 2013) was passed by the United States Congress on January 1, 2013, and was signed into law by US President Barack Obama the next day.
- The typical structured settlement factoring transaction is not instantaneous. Even if someone was gobsmacked by Nick Jackson’s 11/23/2012 hype, the process would take 45–60 days to complete.
- The world did not fall apart. The sky did not fall on Chicken Little. The “financial cliff” narrative was fear‑based nonsense.
- Anyone who sold their structured settlement based on Jackson’s reasoning would have received pennies on the dollar.
Another misguided idea from Nick Jackson
If SYSS wishes to be a credible source and provide information of value to consumers then SYSS needs to employ writers who do better research. In this instance the reporting is grossly inaccurate and irresponsible. Plenty of information is readily available in the public domain for those seek it.
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