Court deal benchmark · built from real court orders

Is your offer better than what judges approved?

Enter your payments and the cash you've been offered. We’ll work out the offer’s real annual rate and compare it with 13 court-approved sales from published court orders, each one linked so you can check it.

Med F., Settlement AnalystUpdated October 29, 2026

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Who pays you?

The insurer on your checks or annuity contract.

What are you selling?

Amount per month

First payment sold starts in

years

0 means starting now.

For how many years?

years

Yearly increase

Many payments rise 3% a year. Use 0 if not.

Cash you'd receive (net)

The net amount on the offer or disclosure statement, after fees.

Your offer vs. the court record

Pricier than most approved deals

Your effective rate

12.8%

after all fees

Court median

9.0%

13 approved deals

Share of face value

58%

of $120,000 in payments

Where your rate sits among approved deals

median

6% · cheaper for you18% · costlier

More than half of the approved deals in our records had a lower rate than yours. In three New York cases, judges approved sales only after buyers cut rates like this by 3 to 4 points.

At the court median rate, the same payments would bring about

$80,717 · $10,717 more than your offer

Illustrative math from your inputs, not a quote.

Most similar real deals

Pacific Life · CBC Settlement Funding
12.69%
$44,400 of payments for $27,000 (60.8% of face). Order date not printed in the excerpt; valued from the first assigned payment (May 1, 2020).
N.Y. Sup. Ct., Kings County, May 1, 2020
Allstate · J.G. Wentworth
11.06%
$45,519 of payments. Court found an interest rate of 11.06% fair and reasonable.
N.Y. Sup. Ct., Kings County, Mar 23, 2021
MetLife · PBX1 Chase, LLC
15.35%
$641,823 of payments for $10,100 (1.6% of face). Life-contingent: paid only while the payee is alive, which buyers price far higher.
N.Y. Sup. Ct., Kings County, Feb 3, 2021
Allstate · Peachtree Settlement Funding
10.3% · denied
$25,000 of payments for $12,500 (50% of face). Denied: no evidence of hardship; the seller already had cash from a February 2021 sale.
N.Y. Sup. Ct., Washington County, Jul 30, 2021

Get offers that beat the court median

Tell us how to reach you and we'll help you line up competing written offers for the same payments, so you can see who pays the most.

Payments remaining (approx.)

When do you need cash?

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Every court deal in the benchmark

16 published New York orders, 2014 to 2021. Click any case to read the order.

Order	Insurer	Buyer	Payments (face)	Cash to seller	Rate	Result
Kings County, Mar 2021	Allstate	J.G. Wentworth	$60,000	$40,000	6.91%implied	Approved
Kings County, Oct 2021	New York Life	Peachtree Settlement Funding	$158,841	$25,000	7.06%implied	Approved
Kings County, Mar 2021	Pacific Life	CBC Settlement Funding	$144,400	not printed	7.1%court	Approved
Kings County, Dec 2021	New York Life	Lion 13, LLC	$805,000	$211,000	7.6%implied	Approved
New York County, Nov 2014	MetLife	Peachtree Settlement Funding	$75,000	$45,300	7.8%court	Approved
Kings County, Apr 2021	Pacific Life	J.G. Wentworth	$80,102	$45,000	8.25%implied	Approved

“Court” rates were stated in the order. “Implied” rates are the annual rate at which the payments sold equal the net cash paid, valued at the order date, so they include every fee. One 2020 order doesn’t print its date and is valued from its first payment sold.

Quick answer

What discount rate do judges approve for structured settlement sales?

In 13 approved New York sales of guaranteed structured settlement payments from 2014 to 2021, effective annual rates ran from 6.9% to 15.8%, with a median of 9.0%. In three Manhattan cases, judges approved sales only after buyers cut their rates by 2.9 to 4.2 percentage points.

A lower rate means more cash for you. If an offer’s effective rate is well above the median, get competing written offers before your hearing.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Where do the court deals come from?

From published New York court orders approving or denying structured settlement transfers. Each order lists the payments sold and usually the cash paid to the seller. Every deal in the table links to its order so you can check it yourself.

What is the effective annual rate?

It's the yearly discount rate at which the payments you'd sell are worth exactly the cash you'd receive, after all fees. A lower rate means a better deal for you. It is the fairest way to compare offers for different payment schedules.

Why does the benchmark leave some deals out?

The comparison uses approved sales of guaranteed payments with a known rate. Denied deals and life-contingent payments (which stop at death) are shown in the full table but not used for the median, because they're priced very differently.

Is the court median a fair price?

It's a real-world reference point, not a promise. Your price depends on your insurer, how far away the payments are, the amount, your state and how many buyers compete. Use it to spot offers that are clearly out of line.

What should I do if my offer is worse than the median?

Ask the buyer for the effective annual rate in writing, get at least two competing written offers for the same payments, and consider selling a smaller portion. Judges have pushed rates down in court; you can get there sooner with competition.

Keep going

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Scenario modelerSell all, sell part or keep, side by side.

This tool gives educational estimates only. It is not a quote, a guarantee, or legal, tax or financial advice. Actual offers depend on your payment schedule, the annuity issuer, the buyer and your state's court. Talk to a qualified financial advisor and, where your state requires it, an independent professional before you sell.