Facts & Figures

Ringler: America’s Largest Doing the Most

When we say Ringler is the largest structured settlement company in America, it is based on the following data:

• 170 Ringler® consultants serve customers from offices in 70 cities
• On average, one-third of all structured settlements written in America each year involve a Ringler consultant based on data from the nine major life insurance companies that issue structured settlements
• $29.3 billion in annuity premiums since 1975 were placed by Ringler

Annuities From Top-Rated Insurance Companies

Every Ringler structured settlement is funded by life insurance annuity contracts from America’s top-rated life insurance companies. Life companies are strictly regulated to ensure that sufficient reserves are set aside for every annuity issued by the company.

Here is a list of the insurance companies we work with at Ringler. For complete details, click on a logo:

Growing Concern Over Blown Lump-Sum Payments
Creates the Structured Settlement

Structured settlements evolved because many leaders in private, public and non-profit organizations became increasingly alarmed at the number of injured people blowing through lump-sum payments because of poor financial decisions. One recent survey supports these concerns, providing eye-opening reports on injured people who elected to take cash at settlement rather than a tax-favored structure.

The survey, conducted by American General Life Companies (AGL) in 2007, showed that 57 percent of those who were involved in a personal injury case – and elected a lump sum payment at settlement – had nothing left. Only 12 percent reported having 75 percent or more of their cash settlement still on hand. Download study.

No wonder that those who work with these cases – attorneys, mediators and other court officers, insurance professionals, and settlement consultants – have been increasingly supportive of the stability, security and guarantees provided by a structured settlement. (Read their own words.)

First utilized in Canada after settlements for children affected by Thalidomide, structured settlements were introduced in the United States during the 1970s. Since then state and federal officials have passed numerous laws and changes to the tax codes to make structured settlements even more attractive to injured people and their families.

Initially, the concept was used on large, catastrophic injury cases. Today, half of the cases structured by Ringler are less than $50,000. Most structured settlements include upfront cash for attorney fees, medical expenses and existing liens resulting from the injury. The defendant insurance company purchases one or more annuities from a highly rated life insurance company, which in turn makes the periodic payments to the injured party.

These payments may be made for virtually any length of time, even for the injured person’s lifetime. In the event of the injured party’s death, a guaranteed portion of the settlement may be made to his or her estate or a named beneficiary such as a spouse or child.

Since structured settlements first became popular in the late ’70s, the concept of using periodic payments to settle tort claims has become widespread. Today it is considered in virtually every large case, in workers’ compensation cases, and especially in cases involving minors. Settlement annuities also are being used in an increasing number of claims involving employment and discrimination, molestation, Medicare and Medicaid, environmental issues, and property loss, with heavy use in construction defect cases.

Structured settlements can make the settlement process a win-win solution for all parties involved in the settlement process.

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