There is a role for factoring. Ultimately, a structured settlement recipient has free will and should be able to sell certain (not all) structured settlement rights. Some are not actually saleable. For those that are, an informed individual who understands the true trade-off and the steep discount rate that applies to “cash now” has the right to do so, with some protection afforded by courts in 47 states that have adopted protection acts.

One relatively new development is the rise of offshore sellers of factored structured settlement rights. They may create greater competitiveness in the factoring field, which over time may generate a lesser discount from the true value of periodic payments than the factoring companies generally have been willing to grant.