Structured settlements expert John Darer reviews the latest structured settlements and settlement planning information and news, and provides expert opinion and highly regarded commentary. that is spicy, Informative, irreverent and effective for over 20 years.
The STRUCTURED SETTLEMENTS 4REAL® Blog is a highly regarded source for structured settlement news, information, and commentary, led by structured settlement and settlement planning subect mater expert John Darer CLU ChFC MSSC CeFT RSP CLTC. With two decades of operation, the blog and 4structures.com are recognized as comprehensive resources, offering detailed guides and specialized insights. Established in 2005, the blog caters to a broad audience, including legal professionals, injured individuals, families, and various stakeholders, providing reviews and opinions on settlement planning. John Darer, President of 4structures.com LLC, is a seasoned structured settlement expert with over 40 years of financial services experience and 31 years specializing in structured settlements. Based in Stamford, CT, he is a Certified Financial Transitionist and Registered Settlement Planner, holding insurance licenses in 45 states and the District of Columbia. John Darer is dedicated to transparency and advocacy, he emphasizes the importance of engaging trained and licensed professionals for settlement planning, offering valuable insights through his investigative journalism and professional commentary.
The Structured Settlement Canard of the Month goes to Annuity.org for its perverse use of a true statement by the National Structured Settlements Trade Association, to imply that Peachtree Financial, a JG Wentworth company, is a regulated entity under the purview of insurance law and regulated by state insurance commissions
Annuity.org also implied that any structured settlement factoring company that holds itself out as a structured settlement broker, such as Peachtree, is regulated by a state insurance commissions; that any structured settlement purchaser that buys structured settlement payment rights and then assigns them to an investor is selling a regulated insurance product to the investor, instead of receivables.
Here is the cited quote from the National Structured Settlement Trade Association
“Structured settlements are funded by annuities and all structured settlement brokers are regulated by state insurance commissions. Structured settlement consultants must also comply with at least seven sections of the U.S. tax code”.
” Cultural Misappropriation”
Peachtree Financial bought ads portaying itself as a structured settlement broker. Below is one of three Google paid ads for Peachtree appearing March 1, 2023 in a Google search of the term “structured settlement broker“ performed by the Structured Settlement Watchdog. This form of ad can be seen virtually every day.
Peachtree is not a member of the NSSTA, AASC, SSP (the primary industry trade associations to which structured settlement brokers belong). Peachtree is not regulated by state insurance commissions. If only Peachtree, or any other buyer of structured settlement receivables, WAS regulated by state insurance commissions or regulated like life settlements, a parallel industry, it would be better for consumers, in my opinion.
Two Decade Strategic Failure
The two decade long strategic failure of state legislatures around the United States to deal with a reasonably forseeable problem from the beginning; and to enact laws, such as a licensing standard to address the reasonably forseeable and provide a means to effectively regulate the sale practices of structured settlement factoring companies and those they hire, to the detriment of consumers.
If all structured settlement factoring companies were indeed regulated by state insurance commissions, there would no doubt be very few companies in the structured settlement secondary market.
