Here’s what you need to know about life settlements

Life insurance has held and still holds tremendous significance. It is valuable for those people who have dependents in their families, businesses, and other institutions as their beneficiaries would not be affected in case of their unprecedented death. It is the ability to sell life insurance that created the groundwork for the life settlements industry to be formed in 1911 by lawmakers in the country.

However, it was during the 1980s that life settlements gained more relevance with the advances in medicine and technology. A normal transaction involves a person who is aged 65 at the least and not chronically ill. They may sell their life insurance policy at a principal amount called lump sum to a third-party, who therein becomes responsible for paying the monthly premiums of the policy. However, policy owners need to be careful as different states have ruled different waiting periods for them before they may sell them.

The life settlement industry has been an integral part of the health care policy in the country. It has catered to the requirements of senior citizens in the middle to low-income category who require retirement income as well as long-term care.

Here are two of the most popular companies in the market known for life settlements:

Welcome Funds
Founded in 2000, the company has helped many customers. Its database comprises more than 10,000 offers of life settlements accumulated over 13 years and it uses them to compare a customer’s policy with others and see how viable it is. Its aim is to connect sellers to more than one buyer in the secondary market, and they have gained over $450 million in the process. It first assesses whether a person is eligible for life settlements, also advising sellers with detailed information on it.

Ovid Life
Ovid functions by mottos such as “We are consumer advocates.” and “We make life settlements better.” It is precisely the reason why it is amongst the market leaders in the industry. Using it is completely free of cost. It charges customers way lesser than traditional middlemen and connects them online to institutional buyers who are licensed and genuinely interested in purchasing their life insurance policy. In 2017, the company earned around $1.8 billion of life insurance as sellers, and they received, on an average, around 22% of policy benefits from buyers before agreeing to a settlement.