Question

What % offer (for a lump sum buyout) would you consider low, average, and high?

Asked on February 11th 2012 by Roger
I have been receiving monthly LTD payments from The Hartford for almost 2 years. During a recent conversation with one of their Ability Analysts I raised the possibility of receiving a single lump sum payment instead of my current monthly payments. The analyst confirmed that The Hartford does indeed do this, and she said that she would look into it and get back to me. I’m aware that The Hartford will offer me less in a lump sum payment than I am scheduled to receive if I continue to collect my disbursements on a monthly basis, but my question is this: What percentage offer by The Hartford would you consider to be low, average, and high? Some background information: My LTD policy with The Hartford will pay me until I am 65 years old, and at my current monthly disbursement rate I will have collected $2,520,000 by my 65th birthday. So to recap: What % of this $2.52M, if paid out in a lump sum, would you consider (a) Unacceptable, (b) Par-for-the-course, or (c) A reason to celebrate?

Answer

Answered on February 11th 2012 by Attorney Gregory Dell

Roger, Great question. In some situations Hartford will engage in a disability lump sum buyout negotiation. There are numerous factors involved with determining whether a buyout offer is good or not. Some of the factors involve the definition of disability in the policy, the interest rate used to calculate the present value of future disability payments, the mortality factor discount used by Hartford, the reserve set by the insurance company and the tax implications of a lump sum. I discuss each of these factors in more detail in a video located here: (https://www.diattorney.com/services/lump-sum-buyout/) In an undisputed claim, a buyout offer of between 65-75% of the present value is the most that would ever be offered. On a daily basis we negotiate buyouts for disability claimants. If you would like to discuss a potential buyout in more detail, please call us for a free consultation.