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Will A Structured Settlement Broker Get You More Money?

By Peter Johnson
Nov 20, 2008
What exactly is a structured settlement broker? It sure sounds familiar, but at the same time it sounds like a lot of legal or financial mumbo-jumbo. In simple terms, structured settlement brokers are the folks that determine the exact amount of a structured settlement in the case of a party injured in an automobile accident, on the job, or by a defective product or service. A structured settlement is a legal agreement in which one individual or organization settles financially with another party that has a claim against it. The responsible party then makes periodic, structured payments to the claimant, rather than one large lump sum. In order to have an unbiased party sit in and mediate things, a structured settlement broker steps into help negotiate.

What Is A Structured Settlement Broker?

Structured settlement brokers are impartial, third-party individuals often brought in by the defending party. These professional brokers mediate the negotiations between the two parties in a settlement. Because these brokers offer essentially nothing more than suggestions, the negotiations can happen before, during, or after a trial. The structured settlement broker has to determine what the needs of the claimant are and try to estimate what dollar amount the claimant should be receiving, if anything at all. A lot of this is pretty much educated guessing done by the broker.

What Qualities To Look For?

Since the future is a slippery, ever-changing thing that is difficult to predict, settlement brokers simply have to do their best to work out things like future cost of living increases, medical costs, drug costs, and a lot of other factors. Sometimes, the right kind of drug or medical treatment that would best treat the claimant's injuries has yet to even be created. Structured settlement brokers simply have to do their best to try to prognosticate on all of these subjects to the best of their abilities. They must therefore be knowledgeable in the minutiae of the costs of medical services and be able to forecast jumps in the cost of living over the life of the structured settlement.

Conclusion

If you have been wronged or harmed in some way by someone else - an individual or a corporation, then you may entitled to a structured settlement. Though it isn't exactly the wisest decision to waste the court system's time with frivolous lawsuits, you also should not act like everything is hunky-dory if you feel you have a legit claim. If you feel that your claim is for real the first thing you should do is look about on the Internet or at a library and do some research on your own. If you feel certain that you have a claim, speak to a lawyer next. Most lawyers will be more than happy to consult with you and help you figure out whether or not you have a claim and what you should do next. If your claim is genuine, a structured settlement broker will most likely be brought in to help you settle your claim and allow you and the other party to part on better terms.
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