Posted by The Policy Settlement Alliance on Mon, Aug 30, 2010 @ 07:43 PM
By Blaine M. Ferguson
Recently, South Carolina Life Settlement was in the news when a settlement bill died when the SC House adjourned.
According to Andy Fiffick, staff attorney for the House Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee, the House only can return this session to discuss budget issues or legislation that the governor has vetoed.
SB 636, the life settlement bill, had been attached to SB 202 in the Senate, a bill designed to cleanup other insurance related issues.
Based on the model legislation developed by the National Conference of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL), the bill would have set forth rules as policy sale, and specifically state that policies could be sold after two years.
According to Fiffick, it is difficult to attach legislation onto unrelated or only semi related bills.
While South Carolina remains one of five states to leave viatical and life settlements unregulated, new legislation is expected to move forward into 2011 for a South Carolina life settlement.
To learn more about South Carolina Life Settlement, please visit LIVEpdq by clicking on the link above.
Note: Blog posts reflect the opinion of the author, which may differ from the opinion of policysettlement.com.
Posted by The Policy Settlement Alliance on Mon, Aug 30, 2010 @ 07:39 PM
By Blaine M. Ferguson
Term life settlements are often an afterthought to clients and advisors. They do however, represent an important part of the settlement industry. Because of changes in insurance costs or mispricing due to market conditions, term policies are easily replaced with a policy of similar value but at a lessor cost.
While often overlooked, term life settlements represent a major part of the life settlement market. While term life insurance settlements represent a certain niche, for those with life expectancies that fall within the term of the policy, this can provide a solid return for very little invested.
Because term settlements can require expertise and precision above and beyond that of typical settlements, it is vital to use service such as LIVEpdq or your team at PolicySettlement.com can help provide you access to that unwanted, under performing asset.
To learn more about term life settlements, please click on the LIVEpdq link above.
Note: Blog posts reflect the opinion of the author, which may differ from the opinion of policysettlement.com.
Posted by The Policy Settlement Alliance on Mon, Aug 30, 2010 @ 06:55 PM
By Blaine M. Ferguson
Settlement on Life Insurance Policy is an important part of the insurance industry because of its ability to help give policy owners access to their investment and by providing a way for policy owners to avoid unnecessary surrender of their policy.
Settlement on Life Insurance Policy was a major topic of discussion within the research papers credited to Neil Doherty and Hal Singer. Their collective study on the life settlement industry helped provide important evidence to the life insurance industry as a whole that life settlements help to create an equilibrium.
Without settlements, overwhelming numbers of policies would be surrendered. In Doherty and Singer's eyes, this is an inefficient way to distribute the capital that is invested within the policies.
The Doherty and Singer studies also helped to illustrate the importance of a secondary life insurance market. The studies emphasized the ability of the secondary market to help keep pricing of new policies in check.
Settlement on a life insurance policy is a vital and important part of the life insurance industry that plays a major role in helping policy owners and institutional buyers of policies self regulate the industry as whole.
To learn more about settlement on life insurance policy, please click on the LIVEpdq link above.
Note: Blog posts reflect the opinion of the author, which may differ from the opinion of policysettlement.com.
Posted by The Policy Settlement Alliance on Mon, Aug 30, 2010 @ 03:39 PM
By Blaine M. Ferguson
Settlement on a life insurance policy is the best possible way for a policy owner who no longer needs, wants or can afford an insurance policy to gain access to their investment without having to settle for only the cash surrender value.
Settlement on a life insurance policy can done for several reasons. You may no longer have significant need for the policy if for instance, your estate plan has changed or if your estate value has changed due to the economy or through gifting.
Another reason you might consider a life settlement, is to access cash that you need for a "rainy day". Maybe you have recently discovered an illness or sickness and wish to use the cash for treatment or to enjoy life.
Sometimes, policy owners consider settlement on a life insurance policy because of their inability to pay premiums that are unexpected or now necessary due to the policy underperforming because of market conditions.
Whatever the reason for considering a life settlement, it is important to first consult a knowledgeable advisor or site such as PolicySettlement.com or using the LIVEpdq calculator to help gain a better perspective on what you can expect to receive from your settlement.
For more information regarding settlement on a life insurance policy, please visit the click on the LIVEpdq link above.
Note: Blog posts reflect the opinion of the author, which may differ from the opinion of policysettlement.com.
Posted by The Policy Settlement Alliance on Mon, Aug 23, 2010 @ 09:55 AM
By Blaine M. Ferguson
Recently, viatical companies have been frequenting the headlines of industry journals and websites. One such company is Imperial Offerings, a Boca Raton, Fla.- based company that operates many viatical companies such as a life settlement provider and a numerous premium finance subsidiaries.
According to its August 12th SEC filing, the company is proposing to raise $287.5 million, in order to reduce operating costs by using the raises net proceeds as equity financing for premium finance loans. This is due to the higher costs and difficulty in obtaining the necessary financing.
If successful, Imperial Offerings will become just the second provider to go public, following the footsteps of Waco, TX based firm, Life Partners. This offering could potentially encourage other viatical companies to more forward with a public offering.
To learn more about a viatical company in the news and to receive a free policy evaluation, please visit the LIVEpdq link above.
Note: Blog posts reflect the opinion of the author, which may differ from the opinion of policysettlement.com.
Posted by The Policy Settlement Alliance on Mon, Aug 23, 2010 @ 09:49 AM
By Blaine M. Ferguson
Often times, those of us at policysettlement.com are asked about what exactly a viatical company actually does. The viatical company functions in many different capacities throughout the viatical or settlement process but is essentially purchasing the policy owner's asset as an investment.
A viatical company looks at a policy much like a zero coupon bond without a set maturity date. By investing in the purchase of the policy, the company is assuming that while they will not receive regular payments like in a typical bond or fixed income instrument, but on the other hand, they are assuming, through life expectancies, that the final payout of the policy will be worth more than a typical fixed income instrument over time.
By using the LIVEpdq calculator, we are able to provide an instant analysis of your situation and give you a very solid idea of what to expect in terms of dollar values from the sale of your policy.
To learn more about the life settlement process, please visit LIVEpdq by clicking the link above.
Note: Blog posts reflect the opinion of the author, which may differ from the opinion of policysettlement.com.
Posted by The Policy Settlement Alliance on Mon, Aug 23, 2010 @ 09:47 AM
By Blaine M. Ferguson
To understand the viatical definition, you should understand the root of the word. Viatical comes from the Latin word viaticus, which means "provisions for a long journey". Simply put, the viatical definition is the sale or transfer of life insurance by a terminally ill person, or Viator, to another person or company prior to the viator's death.
Typically, the company or person who purchases the policy, will pay the viator an amount more than the policies' cash value, but less than the face value of the policy. In the last decade, life settlements have become an increasingly popular, similar, but slightly different way for those who are not terminally ill, but older age, to take advantage of selling their unwanted policies.
Without understanding the viatical definition, if it is difficult fully understand the best way to go about utilizing life settlement in your own financial and estate planning situation.
To learn more about life settlements or a more in depth discussion about the definition of viatical, please visit LIVEpdq by clicking the link above.
Note: Blog posts reflect the opinion of the author, which may differ from the opinion of policysettlement.com.
Posted by The Policy Settlement Alliance on Mon, Aug 23, 2010 @ 09:45 AM
By Blaine M. Ferguson
Viatical fraud is a serious and potentially dangerous threat to the life settlement industry as a whole. Just as in many industries over the past several years, it has become a hot topic among regulators, legislators, and all involved in the life settlement industry.
While viatical fraud is a serious issue, be aware that it is not a rampant, widespread problem throughout the industry. As in many things, a few "bad apples" can harm the many honest, trustworthy and diligent business people involved in the settlement industry.
The adoption of tighter regulation that clearly defines and lays out rules has been in place for many years and is repeatedly examined and discussed industry wide. Recently, the Congressional discussion with the SEC have caused a stir within the viatical and life settlement communities due to the over reactive nature of the potential changes.
The Dodd-Frank bill that overhauls the financial industry as a whole, also takes aim at the settlement industry to limit the occurrences of viatical fraud. The question is whether or not the bill goes too far in regulating and securitizing the settlement market.
The most important part of a settlement, and the best way to avoid this type of fraud, is to work with an established, knowledgeable and trustworthy advisor such as those at policySettlement.com and LIVEpdq.
To learn more, please visit LIVEpdq by clicking the link above.
Note: Blog posts reflect the opinion of the author, which may differ from the opinion of policysettlement.com.
Posted by The Policy Settlement Alliance on Mon, Aug 23, 2010 @ 09:42 AM
By Blaine M. Ferguson
Viatical contracts and life settlements help seniors manage what many consider an often times forgotten asset. They also allow many people who own life insurance to access to one of their most precious and important assets.
Because life insurance policies often contain large amounts of cash and life insurance companies use this cash to make large profits, it does not benefit them to have policy owners selling policies. The thing that the insurance companies typically don't want the policy owner to know, is that a viatical contract or policy settlement can help you to access sometimes much needed invested dollars at a higher rate than the insurance company would pay for you to simply surrender the policy.
The insurance companies also know that a surprisingly large amount of insurance lapses. Without an outlet such as viatical contracts, the market would be out of equilibrium as the policy lapses increases exponentially without the addition of a viatical contract, or potential policy sale.
The most important thing to remember is the each policy owner has the right, given and upheld by the United States Supreme Court, to sell their insurance policy just as a piece of property.
For more information regarding viatical contracts, please visit LIVEpdq by clicking the link above.
Note: Blog posts reflect the opinion of the author, which may differ from the opinion of policysettlement.com.
Posted by The Policy Settlement Alliance on Mon, Aug 23, 2010 @ 08:31 AM
By Blaine M Ferguson
To sell a life insurance policy you must first own a policy that is at least two years old, in most states, on a person that is at a minimum of sixty five years old and whom has had a change in health since that policy was issued. There are many insured’s that do not understand that to sell a life insurance policy they must be the owner of a policy on their life.
Although a life insurance policy is on a person’s life they do not, technically, have any say on how the life insurance policy is handled and what happens to that policy. The owner of the policy is the only one that has a right to sell a life insurance policy.
If you are an owner of a life insurance policy that you no longer want, no longer need or no longer want to pay for, click our LIVEpdq link today for a free policy review.
Note: Blog posts reflect the opinion of the author, which may differ from the opinion of policysettlement.com.