Structured Settlements in New Hampshire

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Structured Settlements in Berlin, Concord, Derry, Dover, Franklin, Hudson, Keene, Laconia, Lebanon, Londonderry, Manchester, Merrimack, Nashua, Rochester, Salem, Somersworth, Claremont, BELKNAP CARROLL CHESHIRE COOS GRAFTON HILLSBOROUGH MERRIMACK ROCKINGHAM STRAFFORD SULLIVAN COUNTY. New Hampshire by structured settlement expert John Darer at 888-325-8640.  Structured settlements expert John Darer reviews the latest structured settlements news and information and provides expert opinion and commentary, including settlement planning issues/ ideas for settlement management, incisive Structured Settlement Watchdog® commentary that may be helpful to lawyers, plaintiffs, claims adjusters, judges, the news media, sellers and buyers of structured settlement receivables,and interested others. The style is spicy, informative, irreverent and effective. The most prolific structured settlements blog, Now in 19th Year! Check back daily for something new. Read more about What is a Structured Settlement? What is Settlement Planning? Structured Settlements for Minors Structured Settlements for Seniors 

These are questions that I plan on asking the New Hampshire Insurance Department and eventually every other state insurance department to get some clarity over some important things regarding what is permissible under the law as it pertains to structured settlement annuities..

1. Is it permissible for a life insurance producer with an active license and active appointments with life insurers in your state to solicit consumers or investors to buy an annuity or annuities and state that these annuities "may be partially guaranteed by State Guaranty Associations but we make no representations or warranties in this regard?".

2. Is it permissible under the insurance law in your state to use the term"annuity" or"annuities,"structured settlement annuity"or"structured settlement annuities" to describe structured settlement payment rights in the process of selling structured settlement payment rights to consumers in your state?

3. Is it permissible under the insurance law in your state to use the term"annuity" or"annuities,"structured settlement annuity"or"structured settlement annuities" to describe a product, structured settlement payment rights, in the process of selling structured settlement payment rights to consumers in your state, while stating with respect to such structured settlement payment rights that are labeled "structured settlement annuities"by them that these annuities "may be partially guaranteed by State Guaranty Associations but we make no representations or warranties in this regard?"

Stephen Mathieu and Jean Essinger of Legacy Financial Solutions Inc. of Manchester, NH,must know something that I don't know about New Hampshire Insurance Law Section 408-B:19 which reads:

Section 408-B:19 “Prohibited Advertisement of Insurance Guaranty Association Act in Insurance Sales; Notice to Policyholders” (I) No person, including an insurer, agent or affiliate of an insurer shall make, publish, disseminate, circulate, or place before the public, or cause directly or indirectly, to be made, published, disseminated, circulated, or placed before the public, in any newspaper, magazine or other publication, or in the form of a notice, circular, pamphlet, letter, or poster, or over any radio station or television station, or in any other way, any advertisement, announcement or statement, written or oral, which uses the existence of the insurance guaranty association of this state for the purpose of sales, solicitation or inducement to purchase any form of insurance covered by the New Hampshire life and health insurance guaranty association act. Provided, however, that this paragraph shall not apply to the New Hampshire life and health insurance guaranty association or any other entity which does not sell or solicit insurance. The use of the protection afforded by this chapter, other than as provided by this paragraph, by any person in the sale, marketing, or advertising of insurance constitutes unfair competition and unfair practices under the New Hampshire unfair trade practices act, and is subject to sanctions imposed in that chapter.  

Legacy Financial Solutions Inc. of Manchester, NH, is listed as active  life producer in public records of the New Hampshire Insurance Department, including appointments with Pacific Life Insurance Company, American General Life Insurance Company and Metropolitan Life Insurance Company three companies that issue  structured settlement annuities (although it is not clear that Legacy is appointed to sell structured settlement annuities by these companies). Legacy adverstisesthat it does  Insurance Brokerage Long-Term Care Insurance,  Life Insurance, Annuities, Disability Insurance Medicare Supplement Insurance, Short-term Major Medical Insurance. Legacy derives compensation as follows  "After the initial free hour of consultation, by mutual agreement, we may be compensated by financial planning fees, advisory fees, product commissions or a combination of these".

In discussing the risks of what Legacy Financial Solutions labels "Structured Settlement Annuities", Legacy states on its website at time of this posting:

"The Annuities are not deposits and are not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other federal government agency. They may be partially guaranteed by State Guaranty Associations but we make no representations or warranties in this regard". [emphasis added for the subject matter of this post only]

An opinion letter sought by this author from the New York state insurance department on October 28, 2008,  opined that the use of even a generic brochure about the subject published by the NSSTA in response to the 2008 financial crisis was impermissible when used  by licensed producers.Download Opinion About Use of LIGCNY in Solicitation of Structured Settlement Annuities 1-26-2009

It is important for confidence in the marketplace that insurance laws are clear and that they are enforced.

In general...

Insurance regulators and state legislators must get their arms around the following:

Individuals and entities holding insurance licenses and selling annuities are using the above insurance terms  ["annuity" or"annuities,"structured settlement annuity"or"structured settlement annuities"] to (1) characterize for the purpose of solicitation to consumers , (2) make a market and (3) broker structured settlement payment rights,which are not an insurance product, and imply or infer statutory protections where there maybe none, possibly in violation of state statutes.

Note that there are also folks who are unlicensed who are hocking structured settlement payment rights as "annuities" and claiming the same statutory protection.

There needs to be a clear statement about whether or not such practices are permissible.

Insurance companies must get their arms around the following:

Individuals and entities holding insurance licenses and selling annuities and appointed by annuity issuers that sell structured settlement annuities  are using the above insurance terms  ["annuity" or"annuities,"structured settlement annuity"or"structured settlement annuities"] to (1) characterize for the purpose of solicitation to consumers , (2) make a market and (3) broker structured settlement payment rights, which are not an insurance product, and imply or infer statutory protections where there may be none, possibly in violation of state statutes AND to compete with products the insurer sells.

Posted at 02:28 AM in In Force Structured Settlement Market Commentary and Discussion, Misinformation about Structured Settlement Factoring, Misinformation About Structured Settlements, New Hampshire Insurance Advertising, New Hampshire Structured Settlements

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