J.G. Wentworth Survey - 3

Two prior S2KM blog posts:

• Introduced the J.G. Wentworth (JGW) 2008 structured settlement survey; and
• Summarized other related and recent structured settlement reports and surveys.

This S2KM blog post publishes the nine (9) JGW survey questions JGW has given S2KM permission to publish. These JGW survey questions address structured settlement industry issues - for both the primary and secondary markets.

S2KM has reviewed the results of additional JGW structured settlement survey questions (14 questions out of 23 total). These JGW survey questions address J.G. Wentworth's products and services. S2KM has neither requested nor received permission from JGW to publish these additional survey questions and results.

S2KM introductory comments:

• In publishing JGW survey questions and results, S2KM has altered the order of JGW's survey questions and responses as reported to S2KM - but not the questions or responses themselves. S2KM's purpose: to better present and highlight those JGW survey questions and results S2KM believes are most important for the structured settlement and settlement planning industries.
• 115 persons participated in the JGW survey. Not all participants answered every question.
• All JGW survey participants were structured settlement recipients who have sold some or all of their payment rights to JGW through state court approved structured settlement transfers pursuant to IRC section 5891 and one of the 46 state structured settlement protection statutes.

JGW Primary Market Survey Questions

• How many years ago did you settle your original lawsuit?
• When you settled your original lawsuit, why did you accept payments over time rather than a single lump sum of cash?
• How satisfied are you that you accepted a structured settlement?
• Do you wish you and your attorney had negotiated for a single lump sum settlement?
• When you settled your original lawsuit, how well informed were you about structured settlements?

JGW Secondary Market Survey Questions

• Why did you sell all or part of your structured settlement?
• Did selling your structured settlement help solve your financial problem?
• Would you sell payments again?
• If you sold only part of your settlement, do you plan to keep the rest of your payments as a structured settlement?

Additional S2KM comments about the JGW survey:

• The JGW structured settlement survey differs significantly from other recent structured settlement surveys sponsored by NSSTA and AIG. For S2KM summaries of these other structured settlement surveys, see S2KM's earlier blog post titled "Structured Settlement Surveys".
• As of November 28, 2008, neither JGW nor NSSTA have published their structured settlement survey results online. AIG has reported the results of the AIG sponsored survey on the AIG website.
• Towers Perrin has recently reported updated results (2008 update) for Tower Perrin's continuing study of U.S. tort costs on the Towers Perrin website. S2KM has summarized the results of Tower Perrin's 2007 update in this S2KM blog post.
• JGW conducted its own survey. NSSTA and AIG retained outside resources to conduct their surveys.
• JGW, NSSTA and AIG each appear to have utilized Internet communications as part of their surveys.
• JGW's survey participants are all structured settlement recipients who have sold structure settlement payment rights to JGW.
• JGW's survey does not include attorneys for structured settlement recipients or lump sum recipients.
• By comparison, NSSTA's survey includes some attorneys and structured settlement recipients as well as lump sum settlement recipients. NSSTA has not indicated whether any of its survey participants have sold structured settlement payment rights.
• AIG's survey is more hypothetical and does not confirm whether any respondents have sold structured settlement payment rights.

S2KM comments about the JGW survey questions:

• JGW's survey includes questions related to both primary structured settlements and secondary market transfers.
• By comparison, neither the NSSTA survey nor the AIG survey ask any questions about structured settlement liquidity features or secondary market transfers.
• JGW's survey focuses upon the reasons 115 structured settlement recipients: 1) agreed to a structured settlement; and 2) subsequently sold (transferred) some or all of their structured settlement payment rights.
• In addition, JGW's survey asks these 115 structured settlement recipients to evaluate retrospectively the results of both transactions.

S2KM will publish and analyze responses to JGW's 2008 structured settlement survey in subsequent blog posts.