The market is smaller than the advertising suggests. A modest number of specialist finance companies do most of the buying, and a larger number of brokers and marketing firms sit in front of them, quoting deals they will pass on. Knowing which of the two you are talking to changes what the conversation is worth.
Buyers, brokers and the difference
A buyer funds the purchase and files the court application in its own name. A broker collects your details and sells them onward, sometimes to several buyers at once. Neither is dishonest by nature, but only one of them can hold the price. The simplest test is to ask who will be the transferee named in the court application, because that is the party actually acquiring your payment rights and the one whose discount rate you are negotiating.
Why this site publishes no buyer list
Because a list of names with nothing measured beside them is an advertisement. This site publishes what the statutes require, quoted and dated, and puts your enquiry to buyers who reply with a written offer you can compare against those requirements. No buyer can pay to appear here and no ordering on this site depends on who pays; a buyer pays a flat fee for an enquiry and nothing else.
What a New York court has to find
New York is the statute on this record that looks hardest at the money. The court must find the transfer is in the best interest of the payee, taking into account the welfare and support of the payee's dependants, and whether the transaction, including the discount rate used to determine the gross advance amount and the fees and expenses used to determine the net advance amount, are fair and reasonable. It also requires the payee to have been advised to seek independent professional advice and the agreement to be written in plain language.
Questions people ask about who buys structured settlements
Does a court really have to approve this?
Yes, in every state. The federal exception in 26 U.S.C. 5891(b) applies only where the transfer was approved in advance in a qualified order finding it is in the best interest of the payee, taking into account the welfare and support of the payee's dependents.
What is the single biggest variable in the price?
The discount rate, and after that how far in the future the payments fall due. The reported range across the market is between 9% and 18%.
Do you take a share of what I get?
No. Buyers pay a flat fee for the enquiry itself, never a share of the discount and never anything contingent on a transfer completing.