Types of Settlements – Structured – Lump Sum
Types of settlements against personal injury
The types of Settlements against personal injury claims are two types.
- Structured payments are monthly or periodic settlements
- Lump sum settlements (one time payment)
Structured settlements or monthly payments also called periodic payment is a legal settlement of the assured amount by insurance companies. The payment may be monthly, yearly or on specified intervals.
Lump sum payment is a onetime payment of the assured amount to the plaintiff. These settlements are awarded against a personal injury.
When there is a legal disagreement, settlements resolve the issues without the a trial. Civil law allows the resolution of a contract dispute, personal injury claim or liability issue. The settlement firms also pay for any damages a person suffers because of a dereliction of duty.
Like it is common in any field settlement may cause more troubles than they solve and therefore it’s important to know which types of settlements you may be entitled to and what you should do after receiving them.
Settlements may be reached even before a lawsuit is filed. This makes them valuable negotiation tools between potential legal adversaries; at the same time, they save the money that consumers would have to spend in attorney fees for a complete trial.
Lump Sum/Life Contingent Lump Sum Annuity
It is possible to set up an annuity with a lump sum payment for a future date. (Lump Sum) You can set it up to receive the sum, for example, ten years into the future. Should you not survive, your beneficiary would receive the lump sum on that future date. Alternatively, the annuity can pay a lump sum with the provision that you are alive on the due date. Then there is no payment to any beneficiary. This is called a Life Contingent Lump Sum.
More Articles from Structured Settlements Information:
Life Annuity-Period Certain Annuity
These payments are for a guaranteed number of years or for life, whichever is up first. The number of years is based on your life expectancy. This works to your beneficiary who will be paid for the remaining guaranteed number of years should you pass away prior to the designated number of years.
Temporary Life Annuity
A Temporary Life annuity pays you periodically for a designated number of years if you are still living. In this type your beneficiary will not receive funds after you are gone. In other words, your annuity ends when you die should you pass away before the selected number of years
Life Only/Joint Survivor Annuity
There are also Life Only annuities that pay monthly payments for life with no beneficiary provision. A Joint & Survivor annuity will pay you monthly payments for life, and, if your beneficiary survives you, he or she will be paid monthly payments for the balance of his or her life when you are gone.
Most of these annuities can be designed to suit your needs in terms of how often the payments are made, whether or not you get an up-front lump sum before the periodic payments begin, whether or not your attorney is paid in periodic payments or in a lump sum, etc. Make sure you ask lots of questions and get all of the information from your attorney prior to agreeing to accept a particular structure. If you would like an experienced injury lawyer to review your case, fill out our case evaluation form and an attorney will contact you for a no-cost, no obligation evaluation.