When I first heard of viatical settlements, or life insurance settlements, I shuddered at such a dastardly idea. I even put into words my deep feelings. You see I spent many years in the life insurance business and have seen the product work for the betterment of so many. I could not conceive of a pleasant result when one deprives the beneficiaries of what was due them. I guess I had not given the idea much thought, thus my extreme response.
Although I still do not feel it right to deprive beneficiaries of their life insurance proceeds so that an insured can get his or her hands on the proceeds of policies during their lifetime through life insurance settlements with investors, after much study and deep thought I can only conclude that there are situations where this is, not only justified, but is absolutely necessary.
If you bring into the picture the unfortunate person who is HIV positive or has developed full blown AIDS and are desperately doing everything they can just to stay alive with these extremely expensive drugs then you will, like I have, learn to appreciate the need for life insurance settlements.
Some people have no cash value life insurance they can borrow from; no nest egg they can draw on. All these people have is their life insurance policy. They therefore sell their policies to the highest bidder. They get 50% to 60% of the face amount of the policy which they use to pay for treatment and for the drugs they need to keep themselves alive.
Let us not elude ourselves that it is only people with aids who need life insurance settlements. There are certain cancers, heart, liver and kidney conditions that can devastate our lives and put us in a financial quandary. I am sure there are many more illnesses that I have not even thought about. I therefore conclude, because I am now more informed, that life insurance settlements can truly be necessary and that when people take this path it must be with great reluctance and heartbreak.
