Claimants’ medical histories can reveal a wealth of information and opportunity. Do you know that a careful examination of the records can result in lower pricing for Structured Settlement annuities? Even medical conditions that are not related to the accident or injury incident are valid for rated ages.
When calculating the cost or payout of a life-contingent future payment, annuity companies use a combination of current interest rates and individual life expectancy. Annuity companies will increase the payout or decrease the cost of an annuity if life expectancy is deemed “substandard,” or reduced, due to medical issues or co-morbid factors. Such factors can be the result of illness, trauma, pre-existing conditions, or family history—even if they are unrelated to the injury/accident upon which the case is based. Eligible conditions that are a result of the injury include birth defects, brain damage, paralysis, loss of limb, and more. Some non-injury-related conditions that may warrant a substandard rating include cancer, diabetes, immune disorders, heart conditions, smoking, hypertension, lifestyle factors, and others.
Essentially, annuity companies are able to offer better rates based on the medical conditions and reduced life expectancy of the victim.
How does Chronovo go about obtaining these rated ages and better annuity rates? Our clients provide us with access to medical records and we extract the most pertinent and effective records for an age rating. We transmit the records to the annuity company’s medical underwriting team for their review. The underwriters then send us their age rating determination, which we use to obtain best pricing based on the reduced life expectancy.
Rated ages can present significant advantages in the negotiation and settlement process. They only come into play when designing settlement proposals with a life component to the payouts, but in cases where one can be secured, the added flexibility and options benefit the defense team during negotiations.
Chronovo has created a patent-pending, best-in-class system that melds life company rates and substandard rated ages to provide immediate and comprehensive pricing estimates across all available annuity companies in real time. Our Compass™ system transforms the complex mathematics of each settlement offer into clear, colorful graphs, rich with supportive data that can be customized and used for a wide variety of indicative analyses. Our Chronograph™ provides a powerful, comprehensive negotiating tool that outlines clear and relevant solutions for all parties.
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