The Roles Of A Life Settlement Broker

By Rosella Campbell


Life settlement is where a third party buys a life insurance policy from a person. The policy is normally sold at a price less than the net death benefit but more than the existing surrender value. An individual (policy owner) might decide to sell a policy due to a number of reasons most notably when a policy owner cannot afford premiums of the policy or wishes to buy another policy. It might also be because the said individual no longer requires or wants to have the insurance policy. Knowledge about settlement of policies mostly gets to policy owners through their friends, attorney, family members or perhaps financial advisors. In case of such an eventuality (decision to sell policies), the services of a life settlement broker are more often than not required.

Generally these brokers solicit or negotiate settlement contracts on behalf of policy owners. They are licensed in their respective states as do settlement investors and providers . They also must education courses in various areas that relate to insurance.

A broker will shop a policy to many providers at a certain fee that is normally agreed upon with the seller. This is similar to what is commonly done by real estate brokers (soliciting multiple offers for another persons home)Brokers are obliged to collect the bids. They help clients evaluate the various offers that are typically grounded on specific criteria like the net yield after commissions have been charged, stability of the funding, offer price and many more.

It is worth noting that not all settlements will require the services brokers. The nature of the compensation agreement will determine this. Thus having an arrangement that is wholly disclosed is instrumental in making such a decision.

An understanding of the compensation arrangement is very important when determining whether an individual should engage brokers. The fully disclosed arrangement helps the client determine whether their services will be beneficial.

In states with stern regulations pertaining these settlements, Those brokers who violate laws about privacy, disclosure, licensing, reporting or procedures are liable to certain penalties.

These specialists require proper training in areas like insurance, sales skills, capacity to manage bids and offers and capacity to calculate risks. These skills are invaluable when brokers are facilitating purchasing and disposing life assurance policies between investors (buyers) and an insurance company and policy owners(sellers) at a certain price. Such agreements must ultimately be accompanied by a license since they are envisaged in the law.

Given the fact that this is a new financial practice and the large number of brokers in the market, one should be cautious and ensure that he or she finds a legitimate broker and also the credibility of the deal. Transparency of the transaction can be achieved by the broker providing all information regarding the transaction to the seller.

An important component of the sale should be use of competitive bidding so as to try and ensure the policy gets a competitive and possibly the best offer.

To be sure about privacy and anonymity which minimizes fraud prevalent in this industry, brokers should strive to market policies to experienced institutional investors.




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