Tuesday, 14 October 2014

Cheap secured loans in UK

f you’re looking for the best secured loan rates, read on and find out all you need to know about secured loans in the UK. Before searching for the best secured loans in the UK, it might be useful to brush up on the facts and get to know the market a bit better. Learn more about secured loans in the UK market and if you should opt for an unsecured loan instead.

Secured Loan Calculator

Note: A balloon amount is only available to approved applicants and is subject to several factors considered as part of your loan application. A Balloon is only available on a loan term of 1 to 5 years. Disclaimer This calculator is provided for illustrative purposes only and does not constitute a quote. Information provided by this calculator is based on the accuracy of information provided by you and does not take into account your personal needs and financial circumstances. ANZ will not store the information provided in this calculator. Additional fees and charges apply. All applications are subject to ANZ's normal credit approval criteria. This calculator is for a consumer secured car loan. Find out more about our business car loans. This calculator is not applicable for Novated Lease. Interest rates are subject to change.

Secured Loan Calculator

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Frequently Asked Questions about Selling Your Structured Settlement

What are Structured Settlements?

Many times when individuals are in involved in accidents or wrongful death settlements with insurance companies they elect to receive a series of payments over a longer period of time instead of an immediate lump sum. These payments normally total more than the amount one would have received at settlement. In order to make this election, the Plaintiff must sign a Settlement and Release Agreement that allows the Defendant to purchase an annuity policy to provide for the payments to the Annuitant. The Annuitant does not own the annuity and does not have the right to sell the annuity. He does have the right to receive the payments and can sell them to a third party.

As an example... John, an electrician working on the construction site of a new office building, is involved in a terrible accident in which his hand is crushed. After the emergency trip to the hospital and several surgeries, the doctors determine that he won’t regain full use of his hand. Without the full use of his hands he can’t be an electrician. Since John’s wife works, he’s not in need of financial help to pay his bills. However, because his workplace injury he has been left unable to continue in his career. He files a worker’s compensation suit, and wins a large amount of money, $360,000. However, instead of giving John the money all at once, it is agreed that he will be awarded a structured settlement; which pays John $3,000 a month for the next ten years. This is so John can maintain some income (since he can’t earn a paycheck as an electrician) while he learns new skills for a different line of work. However, two years after receiving his Structured Settlement, John needs to buy a work truck for a new business he started, but doesn't have the cash on hand. So John decides to sell some of his Structured Settlement payments to buy the truck.

Why would anyone want to sell his or her structured annuity payments?

If someone needs money from their settlement payments, it is usually because they have a financial emergency or they have near-term expenses that their current income won’t cover. For example, they may need to make significant home improvements, or maybe they want to buy a home and need the money for a downpayment, or perhaps they want to start a business, or pay for schooling. There could be any number of valid reasons, but it is also important to note that the transaction, selling a structured settlement annuity payment, must be approved by the judge so the reason must be legitimate. Liquidating a portion of their settlement payments is sometimes the only solution to critical problems.

How much will I receive?

The amount paid for a structured settlement is influenced by three primary factors:

the amount and timing of the payments that the buyer will receive, as they relate to the value of money,
the probability that the issuer, usually an insurance company, will make the payment on time and in the full amount,
the current economic conditions such as interest rates effecting the cost of money.

Without getting into too many financial terms, and all other factors being equal, the sooner the future annuity payments will be received (2 years versus 10 years), then generally the higher the purchase price for your structured settlement.

How Quickly Can I Get My Money?

After you’ve signed the contract, on average it takes about 45 days to receive your money. However, keep in mind that every structured settlement purchase transaction is different due to each state’s laws regulating such purchase transactions.

What if I want to sell only a portion of my payments?

You can! More often than not, owners of structured settlements sell only a portion of their annuity payments to meet their specific financial need at the time. It is also common for owners of structured settlements to sell a different portion of their annuity payments on several occasions over their lifetime as the need arises. Oasis can structure a plan to buy a portion of each payment, buy one payment, several payments, or offer a lump sum payment for the entire structured settlement annuity. Each transaction can be tailored to your needs. This will allow you to plan your financial needs and retain part of your cash flow for your ongoing expenses.

What will it cost me?

There are no up front costs to sell your structured settlement. However, to be clear there are fees involved, but those are subtracted from the final amount you will receive. Having said that, when you receive a quote from a company to purchase your structured settlement, make sure all of the fees are already taken out of that final number quoted to you – that the number you’re quoted is the amount you’ll receive!

The quote you’ll receive from Oasis, or one of our partner companies, does include all of the fees associated with the transaction. Bottom line is the number quoted is the amount you’ll receive!

Will I owe taxes on this money?

On June 10, 1999, the IRS issued a Private Letter Ruling 119273-97, which confirmed that an individual’s sale of structured settlement payments would not create a taxable transaction. In addition, HR 2884 confirms this ruling. We do encourage you to contact your accountant just as a safeguard.

How Much Are My Payments Worth / How Large Of A Lump Sum Payment Can I Get?

As mentioned above, there are several factors used to determine how much your structured settlement payments are worth. We can provide you with a Free Quote based on your payment schedule from the insurance company who sends your structured settlement annuity payments to you, how many of your payments you want to sell, and when those annuity payments are scheduled to be made.

Can this be done on worker’s compensation settlements?

Unfortunately, no. Only personal injury lawsuits where a structured settlement was awarded, qualifies under IRC 104(a)(2) can be transferred under the federal and state transfer acts.

Who is Oasis and what do they do?

To read about Oasis Legal Finance, LLC, and what all we do, read our company overview

What about courts that have held anti-assignment language as enforceable?

Even in states where the courts have upheld anti-assignment language, judges often rule that a transfer of payments is in the best interest of the annuitant notwithstanding such previous rulings.

Will I Be Protected?

Yes. As of now, 40 states have passed legislation that provides for the sale of structured settlement annuity payments. These state laws work with existing federal laws which spell out clear rules for the sale of periodic payments for a lump sum of cash. Court orders are issued ensuring the best interest of the client.

Why You Should Avoid Structured Settlement Investments

reader recently asked me for my opinion on investing in structured settlements. I asked my Right Financial Plan co-authorTiya Lim for her thoughts, as she analyzes these types of investments for our firm. Here's what she had to say.

A company sent the reader a few proposals, which all promised high yields with cash flows backed by highly rated insurance companies. One specific example was structured like this:

Insurance company: Prudential Life Insurance (A+ Rating)
Initial investment: $38,731.58
Payouts:

March 11, 2024 -- $60,000
March 11, 2027 -- $30,000
March 11, 2030 -- $15,000

Yield: 7.75 percent

A yield of 7.75 percent sounds great in today's interest rate environment, but is this really a good investment? Let's look a little deeper.

What's a structured settlement investment? When plaintiffs are awarded settlements, they're often paid in lifetime or periodic installments. If the recipients need all the cash now, they can sell the structured settlement for a lump sum payment and give up future rights to the cash flow of the settlement. The company that purchases the structured settlement can then sell cash flows to investors, such as the reader who submitted the above proposal.

Would I recommend this product? No.

First, not only is the maturity of the product long (almost 20 years), but the product is also illiquid. While there may be a secondary market to trade structured settlements, liquidity is unlikely to be as robust as it is in the bond market. When you invest in illiquid assets, you should expect a liquidity premium. When one isn't present, you're simply taking risk without being compensated for it.

Also, although the credit rating of insurance company is strong, there's certainly credit risk in relying on cash payments over the next 20 years from a single insurance company. Does AIG ring a bell? Proper diversification can greatly reduce this risk.

Finally, if you compare the Prudential structured settlement to a corporate bond index, the case for structured settlements becomes even less appealing.

Prudential Structured Settlement Product Comparison

The higher yield looks pretty substantial. However, keep the following in mind. If the duration of the index were extended to match the Prudential product's duration, the yield gap would be much smaller. Then, the question becomes: Is the additional yield worth the additional risks we discussed earlier? Given that the main role of fixed income is to dampen the risk of the portfolio, it doesn't seem worth it.

By going for higher yield, you're accepting more risk. Remember, there's no such thing as a free lunch.

Photo courtesy of Vectorportal on Flickr.
More on MoneyWatch:
Social Security Strategies: Widow's Benefit Book Review: Economics in One Lesson What the Greek Crisis Means for Your Portfolio Stay Focused on Your Plan During the Good Times, as Well 3 Reasons to Avoid Corporate Bonds
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Pension or Settlement Income Streams—What You Need to Know Before Buying or Selling Them

Do you receive a monthly pension from a former employer? Are you getting regular distributions from a settlement following a personal injury lawsuit? If so, you may be targeted by salespeople offering you a lump sum today to buy the rights to some or all of the payments you would otherwise receive in the future. Retired government employees and retired members of the military are among those being approached with such offers. Typically the lump sum offered will be less—sometimes much less—than the total of the periodic payments you would otherwise receive.

After acquiring the rights to a future income stream (such as a retiree’s pension payments), these pension purchasing or structured settlement companies, sometimes called “factoring companies,” may turn around and sell these income streams to retail investors, often through a financial advisor, broker or insurance agent. These products go by various names—pension loans, pension income programs, mirrored pensions, factored structured settlements or secondary-market annuities. They may be pitched to investors with words like “guaranteed” and “safe”—and may tout robust returns that outpace more traditionally conservative investments such as CDs or money market accounts. The advertised returns may sound enticing, but investors should be aware that these investments can be risky and complex.

FINRA and the SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy are issuing this Investor Alert to inform anyone considering selling their rights to an income stream—or investing in someone else’s income stream—of the risks involved and to urge investors to proceed with caution.

What Is a Structured Settlement?

A typical structured settlement involves the resolution of a personal injury or workers compensation lawsuit, which often takes the form of “structured” or periodic payments made to the injured party. The periodic payments are commonly funded by an annuity issued by an insurance company, and are often structured to provide a dependable stream of income and a degree of financial security to the injured party.

Selling Your Pension or Structured Settlement Income Stream

In a typical transaction, the recipient of a pension or structured settlement will sign over the rights to some or all of his or her monthly payments to a factoring company in return for a lump-sum amount. And the lump-sum amount that factoring companies offer will almost always be significantly lower than the present value of that future income stream.

Most states require factoring companies that purchase structured settlements to disclose this difference. In California, for example, the disclosure must identify the dollar amount of the payments being sold, the present value of those payments based on a federally established interest rate, the amount being paid to the seller, and the interest rate calculated as if the transfer were a loan and not a sale of the payment rights.

Factors to Consider When Selling Your Income Stream

In uncertain financial times, you may find yourself searching for immediate cash to help pay for rising or unanticipated expenses. For example, even though your pension provides steady income, you may not feel it’s enough to make ends meet. At first glance, selling your future pension benefits might seem attractive, especially if mortgage, medical or other expenses loom. Under certain circumstances, these transactions may have their benefits.

However, there are several factors to consider before selling away the rights to your pension or structured settlement income. Transaction costs—including brokerage commissions, legal and notary fees, and administrative charges—can be high. You will need to think about how to replace the cash flow your pension or structured settlement income provides, especially if you depend on that income stream to pay monthly or other expenses. Furthermore, be aware that some salespeople can be aggressive or persuasive when trying to get you to sell your income stream and, in some cases, there may be outright fraud.

Before selling away an income stream you currently receive, ask the following questions:

Is the transaction legal? Federal law may restrict or prohibit retirees from “assigning” their pension to someone else.¹ Furthermore, the secondary sale of a structured settlement often must be approved by a court, in keeping with the Uniform Periodic Payment of Judgments Act (UPPJA). Before selling your pension or structured settlement, you may wish to ask your pension administrator what restrictions may apply, review the terms of your settlement or consult an attorney.
Is the transaction worth the cost? Find the discount rate that the factoring company has applied to your income stream to arrive at the lump-sum amount. This is in essence the interest rate that is used to bring the future dollars you will receive from your pension into today’s present value. The larger the discount rate applied to your pension payments, the lower its value in today's dollars. So, if the factoring company is using a high discount rate, you can expect to receive a lower lump sum. Compare this rate to alternatives such as a bank loan or other options that may be less costly. You should also take into account commissions, fees, and other administrative costs.
What is the reputation of the company offering the lump sum? Check the factoring company’s record with the Better Business Bureau, and research the firm on the Internet and with a financial professional. What complaints have been filed against the company? Were complaints resolved to the customers’ satisfaction?
Will the factoring company require life insurance? When you sell your pension, or even a portion of your pension payments, the factoring company may require you to purchase a life insurance policy. They may require you to name the factoring company, or the investor buying the income stream from them, as the beneficiary of the policy. Should you die before all payments you assigned to the factoring company have been received, funds will be paid out from the life insurance policy to cover any remaining balance. Keep in mind that purchasing a life insurance policy will add to your transaction expenses and reduce your payout.
What are the tax consequences? The lump-sum payment you collect may be taxable. Discuss the tax implications of any transaction you are considering with a tax professional.
Does the sale fit your longer-term financial goals? While you may feel you need money now, take time to evaluate your financial objectives down the road. It can be helpful to work with a financial professional who will not receive compensation from, or will not otherwise be involved in, the transaction. You may find that there are other alternatives to deal with your immediate needs. Don’t necessarily take the first offer that comes your way.

Investing in Pension or Structured Settlement Income-Stream Products

Recent stock market volatility and a low interest-rate environment have caused investors to look for investments with attractive returns. Buying the rights to someone else’s pension or structured settlement income stream may look like a good alternative to other options because advertised yields from 5.75 percent to 7.75 percent are common. In a typical transaction, the investor buys an income stream product from a financial salesperson for a specific amount. In return, he receives a specific monthly income for a set number of years. While the yield in such a transaction may be attractive, investors should be aware of the following:

These products can be expensive. You may encounter commissions of 7 percent or higher.
Pension and structured settlement income-stream products may or may not be securities and likely are not registered with the SEC. As such, reliable information about these products may be difficult to find and resolving disputes should an investment go sour may also be difficult.
These products are illiquid, which means that they could be difficult to sell. In the event you need money and want to sell the product, you might not be able to do so or you may only be able to do so at a loss.
Your "rights" to the income stream you purchased could face legal challenges. It may not be legal to purchase someone’s pension. And it may be difficult to legally force the original owner of a pension or structured settlement to forward or assign their income to a factoring company or investor.

Before You Invest

Given these risks and complexities, ask the following questions before you invest:

Is the financial professional selling the product registered with a state or federal regulator or with FINRA? Use the resources below to check the registration status of the salesperson.
- Visit the SEC's Investment Adviser Public Disclosure (IAPD) website.
- Visit FINRA BrokerCheck or call FINRA toll-free at (800) 289-9999.
- Contact your state securities regulator.
- Contact your state's insurance commission by visiting the website of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners or calling toll-free (866) 470-6242.
How is the salesperson being compensated? Ask the salesperson how he is compensated and how this impacts the purported rate of return.
Is the salesperson authorized to sell this product? If registered, ask if the salesperson’s compliance department has reviewed the product and allows it to be sold.
What is the reputation of the company selling the product to me? In addition to checking out the person selling the product, check out the factoring company’s record with the Better Business Bureau and research the firm online and with a financial professional.
What are the tax consequences? Consult with a tax advisor about the possible tax implications of purchasing pension or structured settlement income-stream products.
What organization is ultimately paying you? Regardless of who is selling you the product, or the original recipient of the income stream, the ultimate source of payment is likely to be a pension fund (if you are purchasing a pension income stream) or an insurance company (if you are purchasing a structured settlement income stream). You will want to check the financial stability of the organization, because if that entity goes bankrupt or becomes insolvent, it may stop paying the income stream. Research an organization’s credit ratingand company filings.
Who is sending the check? In some cases, instead of receiving checks directly from the pension fund or insurance company, it has been reported that some pension sales arrangements allow for the pensioner to manually forward his or her checks to the investor. As a result, in addition to the risk the investment may be difficult to sell and the risk that the pension fund or insurance company’s financial position may deteriorate, investors are exposed to the risk that the original pension holder may refuse to forward checks to the buyer. You should make sure that the contract spells out who will be responsible for sending you the payments.

Whether you are thinking about selling a pension or structured settlement, or buying one from someone else, remember that the risks in doing so are substantial and the safety net if things go wrong may not be very strong. Don’t shy away from asking probing questions—and shop around. There may be less risky alternatives to help you achieve your financial objectives.

To receive the latest Investor Alerts and other important investor information sign up for Investor News.

1 The assignability of pension benefits is addressed in the United States Code, including provisions governing military benefits within 38 USC §5301, civil service benefits within 5 USC §8346(a) and private pension benefits within 29 USC §1056(d).

Purchase Structured Settlements

As interest rates remain low, investors - especially retirees - struggle to find yield wherever they can. Unfortunately, though, the necessity of earning a required return to fund financial goals becomes the mother of invention for a wide range of investment strategies, both legitimate and fraudulent. A recent offering of rising popularity is structured settlement annuity investing, often offering "no risk" rates of return in the 4% to 7% range. In general, the opportunity for "high yield" (at least relative to today's interest rates) and "no risk" is a red flag warning. But the reality is that with structured settlement annuity investing, the higher returns are legitimately low risk; the appealing return relative to other low-risk fixed income investments is not due to increased risk, but instead due to very poor liquidity. Which means such investment offerings can potentially be a way to generate higher returns, not through a risk premium, but a liquidity premium. But the caveat, however, is that the investments are so illiquid and the cash flows so irregular, they probably should at best only ever be considered for a very small portion of a client's portfolio anyway.

The inspiration for today's blog post has been a series of inquiries I've received from other planners over the past month, whose clients are being solicited to invest in structured settlement annuities, but have been understandably wary of the purported "high fixed return with low risk" offering. After all, most returns that seem "too good to be true" for their risk are in fact too good to be true, and entail higher risk than what is first apparent. Yet due to the unique way that structured settlement annuities work, the reality is that higher yields are not actually a high risk premium, but a low-risk low liquidity premium.

To understand why, it may be helpful to review exactly what a structured settlement is. A structured settlement arises most commonly when a plaintiff wins a lawsuit - for instance, due to injury as a result of medical malpractice - and the payment for damages is awarded as a series of payments over a period of time. This is often done to coincide with certain key ages - for instance, the structured settlement for an injured child might be timed to have the bulk of the payments made after the child turns 21, while the structured settlement of an injured 45-year-old adult might include annual payments for the next 20 years and then a lump sum at age 65. Each situation is unique. However, to avoid the financial risks involved by having the plaintiff waiting on the defendent to make payments over the span of many years or decades, the defendent (or the defendent's professional liability insurance company) often purchases an annuity from a quality insurance company to make the obligatory payments to the plaintiff, allowing the defendent to resolve his/her end of the settlement with a single lump sum payment.

So where does structured settlement investing come into play? The opportunity arises when the plaintiff who is receiving the structured settlement annuity payments finds a want or need for more liquidity. Or as the infamous J.G. Wentworth (a company that buys structured settlements) commercials put it, "If you have a structured settlement but need cash now, call J.G. Wentworth, 877-CASH-NOW"! So the individual receiving payments contacts the company to explore selling the structured settlement income stream.

In practice, though, most such companies that buy structured settlements do not keep them in their own investment portfolio; they then re-sell the structured settlement annuity payments to an investor, pocket a small slice or charge a markup as a commission, and seek out another structured settlement annuity to buy and repeat the process. Which means ultimately, the company needs to find both an ongoing stream of people who have structured settlement annuities to sell (not surprisingly, easier to find in these difficult economic times), and investors who are willing to buy the seller's unique annuity stream of payments.

So what does this look like from the investor's perspective? Because each structured settlement was arranged for the winning plaintiff's particular circumstances, no two structured settlement annuity investment options are the same. One might offer $2,000/month for the next 18 years; another might provide for a single lump sum payment of $200,000 in 10 years and another $100,000 5 years after that, with no intervening payments; another might provide for a series of $1,000/month payments for 10 years, then a $100,000 lump sum at the end of 10 years.

How does the return work with such irregular payments? From the investor's perspective, this is similar to buying an original issue discount bond that matures at par value. For instance, if the structured settlement provides $200,000 in 10 years and another $100,000 payment 5 years thereafter, then the lump sum required for the investor might be $170,884; if you do the math (it's a standard IRR/NPV calculation for any financial calculator or spreadsheet), "investing" $170,884 today for $200,000 received in 10 years and another $100,000 received in 15 years equates to a 5% internal rate of return. However, it's important to note that you don't receive any kind of ongoing 5%/year payments (unless that happens to be what the annuity offers); your 5% return is solely attributable to the fact that that's how much money would have grown for the future value the investor gets from the annuity payments to equal the lump sum the investor paid today to get them. So the return is legitimate, but it's not comparable at all to the ongoing cash flows from a 5% coupon bond.

So why are the returns as high as they are? It's not due to risk; as noted earlier, the annuity payments are generally backed by highly rated insurance companies that are anticipated to have virtually no risk of outright annuity payment default (after all, that's what the original structured settlement payment recipient was counting on for those payments in the first place, and the court wouldn't have approved it if the annuity provider wasn't sound!). And the payments are generally guaranteed and fixed to the dates that are assigned; unlike lifetime annuitization that planners may be more familiar with, the payments from structured settlements generally are not life contingent (i.e., the payments will continue, even if the original annuity dies). Instead, the returns are due to sheer illiquidity. After all, how many people out there really want to buy an arbitrary structured settlement payment of $200,000 in 10 years and another $100,000 to arrive 5 years later, with no intervening cash flows? The answer is, not many. Yet in many cases, the structured settlement recipient really needs the liquidity for some reason, and can't wait long. The end result: the structured settlement recipient becomes willing to give up a healthy discount rate to get that lump sum of cash now.

So where does this fit for the financial planning client? The internal rate of return on many structured settlement payments are pretty appealing in today's marketplace; rates of 4%+ are pretty common (although notably, that's not a huge spread relative to the yield on comparable long term bonds). But most clients are unlikely to find a structured settlement that actually provides cash flows that line up with exactly when the client may need them, and there are only so many to choose from at any given time (for instance, here's a sample rate sheet from one provider) - which means at best, this should only be done with a small enough portion of the portfolio that it won't create a liquidity problem for the client investor. Otherwise, the client could themselves become the seller, and be forced to go through the same discounting process - bearing in mind that the structured settlement broker needs a cut too, so if the "cost" to generate a 5% return is $170,884 in the earlier example, the seller is going to get something less than that amount. This means that a buyer who becomes a seller will likely experience a loss of their own, as they essentially absorb both sides of what is a very wide bid-ask spread. Which means to say the least, this is for "long-term money" only! And of course, basic due diligence on the broker arranging the structured settlement and affirming the rating on the underlying insurance company is important, as always.

It's worth noting as well that structured settlement annuity investing is not just something that clients are being solicited for. Some of the structured settlement brokers involved are now reaching out to work with financial advisors directly as well (as a way to get access to more investment dollars), and in some cases advisors can actually be compensated and share in the commissions for helping to arrange such investments (not unlike how registered representatives are paid for many forms of annuity investing). However, this requires the broker/dealer to review and approve the offering (so that the registered representative doesn't get in trouble for selling away). And in practice, it seems that broker/dealers themselves are mixed on these offerings. At least one company I know of doesn't want to allow their representatives to do structured settlement annuity business not because they're unsound or risky, but because the broker/dealer is afraid that if more investor dollars flow into this space, it will encourage structured settlement annuity firms to be more aggressive and potentially even predatory in trying to persuade structured settlement recipients to part with their guaranteed payments in exchange for quick and easy cash now (as typical structured settlement annuity recipients are unlikely to "do the math" on the internal rate of return being used to discount their payments!). On the other hand, part of the reason for the high returns in structured settlement annuity investing is because there are so few investors involved that the market is highly illiquid and inefficient; in theory, if there were multiple companies competing for a structured settlement recipient's payments, there would be more competition, resulting in a higher price that both delivers more money to the seller and provides lower ("more competitive"?) yields for the investor.

In the end, structured settlement annuity investing can only go so far. There are just only so many structured settlement annuitants receiving payments out there, although in recent years this "industry" has expanded to also buy the annuity payments from lottery winners, and even some annuity payments from individuals who simply bought a commercial immediate annuity product and now want to liquidate it. Nonetheless, there is clearly some capacity constraint in how much this particular investment strategy can grow. But for the time being, the yields would suggest that the seller demand exceeds the buyer interest, which creates an opportunity for the client investor who can tolerate the illiquidity and has otherwise done the due diligence.

So what do you think? Have your clients been approached regarding structured settlement annuity investing? Did you counsel them to invest, or not? Have you considered getting involved with the brokers that offer such investments? Would you consider it to be a good right for the right client situation?

Here’s the process to purchase structured settlements:

1. Review the Somerset Offer Sheet, and then contact your advisor to reserve the offer.

Once you verbally reserve the offer, Somerset takes the case off the market and holds it exclusively for the Buyer. To maintain the exclusive hold, the Buyer has 48 hours to return the required documentation.

Required documents to exclusively hold a Case:

2. Fill out the Purchaser Information Worksheet-

To comply with all federal laws and regulations and to help fight the funding of terrorism and money laundering activities, Somerset must obtain, verify, and record information that identifies the Buyer via the Purchaser Information Worksheet
To be eligible to buy a SMA, a foreign Buyer must have a U.S. address, a U.S. tax identification number, and a U.S. Bank account.

3. Upon receipt of the Purchaser Information Worksheet, Somerset will prepare and send out a Purchase Agreement for the Buyer(s)signature.

The Purchase Agreement outlines
- the terms of the relationship between the Buyer and Somerset Wealth Strategies
- the transaction process – generally a $5,000 deposit in earnest is sent back with the executed documents. If the case is considered Fast Track – going to court within 15 days or less or already approved, full funding is required.
- that deposits will be held in a specified attorney-trust account

Note for SMA’s to be funded with Qualified (IRA funds), additional action is required.

4. Funds need to be transferred to an approved custodial account set up with Provident Trust Group.

If the account is already established, Somerset will send out with the Purchase Agreement (this can take up to four weeks to complete the transfer):
- New Transfer Form – to transfer funds into Provident sufficient to cover the Provident Fees and the Purchase Price of the SMA
- Provident Direction of Investment Form – to transfer funds from the Provident IRA to the Attorney Trust account and fund the specified SMA.
- If the account is not already established, Somerset will send out with the Purchase Agreement (this can take up to four weeks to complete):
  - Provident IRA Application
  - New Transfer Form
  - Provident Direction of Investment Form

Buyer Notification

5. Once Somerset receives the executed Purchase Agreement and the required deposit, the Buyer can expect to wait for final closing anywhere from 30 – 90 days due to the court ordered and judicial process these SMA follow.

6. Somerset notifies the Buyer of the progress of the SMA throughout the court process, including court date, approval date and time it will take for Insurance company acknowledgement.

Fund the SMA Purchase

7. Stage 1: Initial deposit provided at the time the Buyer executes the Purchase Agreement. The deposit is held in the attorney trust account specified in the Purchase agreement.

8. Stage 2: The Buyer submits the balance of the SMA purchase price to the Buyer’s attorney trust account 15 days prior to the court date, where the funds are held until the closing of the transaction.

Closing the SMA Purchase

9. Once the court has reviewed and approved the assignment and we have received confirmation from the insurance carrier that the assigned payment(s) are now to be paid directly to the Buyer, our team of legal experts will underwrite the file based upon a set criteria to assure the Buyer is receiving an absolute assignment without encumbrance. (Typically a week to four week process)

10. Upon receipt of an attorney reviewed file, the case will be funded and considered closed.

11. Upon closing, the Buyer receives a Buyer Closing Book which includes all of the pertinent documents and proves the transfer from Buyer to Seller.

Total time the Buyer can expect this process to take is 30-60 days.

Monday, 6 October 2014

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