A 40 year-old male employee was catastrophically injured during an auto accident resulting in paraplegia and a traumatic brain injury (TBI). The adjuster for the self-insured employer referred this challenging workers’ compensation claim to Independent Life.
The Case
The injured worker spent the last two years in and out of facilities stacking up costly medical bills. Recently his health stabilized and he is receiving in-home care. The workers’ compensation claims team is now ready to resolve the case, but due to the nature of the claim – the injured worker’s life expectancy, medical cost projections and valuation ranges were each hotly contested items.
The Challenge
Many life insurance companies offering structured settlement annuities are reluctant to provide realistic life expectancies for injured workers such as this one. After years of low interest rates, the life companies have become more conservative in underwriting for these claimants to offset the reinvestment losses incurred from annuity business written in higher interest rate environments. As a result, the benefit of tax-free payments using a structured settlement are often less attractive now than settling for cash.
The Independent Life Difference
Complex, high-value cases like this one demand a thorough medical life expectancy evaluation. Only Independent Life is willing to invest the resources needed to accurately evaluate the risk and set a realistic life expectancy. Independent Life is willing to back that up by offering a higher paying life annuity. The lesser offerings of
competitors lead to no settlement. Independent Life’s offer leads to a discussion on realistic life expectancy and spurs a settlement.
The chart below shows a market survey for a $17,000 monthly benefit guaranteed for 20 years and life thereafter for a 40-year-old male:
As the first life insurer solely focused on structured settlements, Independent Life provides competitive and innovative annuity products to offer the best possible outcomes to settling plaintiffs. We do this with market-leading pricing, enhanced medical underwriting, and exceptional customer service.
