Settlement Options

The Secondary Market for structured settlements provides "payees" (those who are receiving structured settlement payments) in need of liquidity with the opportunity to assign future payments in exchange for immediate funds. Without this option, people who receive structured settlements will be denied the flexibility to adapt to changing circumstances, achieve their financial goals, or make use of their financial assets.

Structured settlements have served an important role in the U.S. legal system since the 1980s. Most often used to settle personal injury cases of all shapes and sizes, structured settlements incentivize and promote the settlement of lawsuits and claims, for all parties, and typically result in the plaintiff/payee receiving periodic settlement payments over time, rather than a one-time settlement payment. The periodic settlement payments of a structured settlement can last 20, 30, 40 years or longer, and often extend beyond the initial guaranteed payment for a long as the payee/plaintiff is living.

Years ago, NASP members recognized the liquidity issues that payees faced with structured settlements, some of which were created by federal tax laws relating to said settlements, and the Secondary Market was born.