With all the ads featuring happy people singing about getting cash now, you could easily come to believe that the process of selling your structured settlement is easy and worry-free.
You need to protect yourself, however, because people who have gone through the process have complained of potential pitfalls.
Going Back on the Deal. A typical complaint that is levied against structured settlement buyers is that the buyer changed the amount of the offer through the purchase process. Many buyers will float a low offer first, just to see if you’ll bite. Don’t jump at the first offer, and you might just get something better later on. Buyers will sometimes back out of a deal altogether, presumably if they’ve found something they think is a better investment, or if they’ve run the numbers and decided their offer to you was too high. If the company does go ahead with the deal, always read all documents and agreements carefully to make sure the buyer doesn’t change the amount of the lump sum payment he originally offered. If the buyer starts playing tricks with the numbers, walk away from the deal.
Promises Not Kept. Don’t be lured in by the happy promises made by structured settlement buyers in their ads. Many buyers will promise to give you the best deal, but the only way to know for sure is to shop around. A site like www.quotemeaprice.com makes this easy, so that you can post the details of your settlement and let buyers compete for your business. Also beware any company that promises a settlement in fewer than 45-60 days. No matter what state you are in, and no matter how easy the process, a structured settlement sale will always take at least that much time. Remember that there are agreements to sign, a court process to follow, and legally-mandated “cooling off” periods. It will take time.
Where’s My Money? Unfortunately, some companies enter into agreements to buy a structured settlement, but come up short on cash and don’t pay the seller. A reputable company will release the seller from this agreement, but some companies have actually refused to do this – so the seller not only was out of his structured settlement, he was never paid for it. Sneaky Fees. You shouldn’t have to pay court fees or processing fees to sell your structured settlement, so beware any company that tries to pass these on to you. Again, read all contracts and documents carefully, and have an idea of the fees prohibited by your state’s structured settlement statute.
The best way to make sure your prospective structured settlement buyer won’t pull any of these dirty tricks is to check them out at the Better Business Bureau. You can see what other sellers have to say about these companies. If you find that some of them have pulled dirty tricks, think carefully about using them.
If you need help selling your structured settlement, annuity or lottery payments,
contact us today. We are here to answer your questions and help you obtain the
highest possible price for your payments.
Tags: buyers, cash for structured settlement, sell payments, sell settlement, sell structured settlement, selling payments
