Structured settlements are the payments made to an injured consumer by the insurance company from where the person has bought his policy. As the name itself suggests, structured settlements are the payments made over a period of time rather than being paid in a lump sum amount. Given their nature, they are also called periodic payments.

In fact, the settlement laws enable the defendants, which in most cases are the insurance companies, to pay the entire amount which is due in installments distributed over a period of time. This simply put means that the consumer does not get the entire amount as one payment.

The question is who benefits from this arrangement- the insurance company or the injured consumer. Structured settlements are an ideal answer for both parties-the insurance companies and also the injured consumer. This is because the structured settlements are contracts between the insurance companies whereby insurance companies promise to make contractual payments to the policy holder in case of any bodily injury. In case the consumer dies in an accident, the surviving family members can also claim this amount. The advantage to the insurance companies is that they do not have to pay the entire amount at one time. Also, the law allows these companies to keep the entire amount in case of the consumer