For a structured settlement annuity, the strongest issuers in the U.S. market are Berkshire Hathaway Life Insurance Company of Nebraska, New York Life Insurance Company, and USAA Life Insurance Company, all rated A++ (Superior) by AM Best. A second group carrying A+ (Superior) ratings covers most of the remaining market: MetLife, Pacific Life, Prudential, United of Omaha, Athene, and American General (Corebridge Financial). Which of these is the best structured settlement annuity company for a given case depends on the insurer’s financial strength, the payout features it offers, and whether the case fits inside that carrier’s underwriting limits.14structures.com. Structured Annuity Companies
What Makes a Structured Settlement Annuity Company “Best”
A structured settlement may pay out for 30, 40, or even 50 years, so the issuing life insurer’s ability to keep paying decades from now matters more than any other feature. The industry benchmark is the AM Best Financial Strength Rating, which measures an insurer’s ability to meet ongoing policyholder obligations. Every carrier commonly used in this market sits at A or higher; the meaningful line runs between the A++ tier and the A+ tier.14structures.com. Structured Annuity Companies
After ratings, the second filter is fit. Case size, deferral length, guarantee period, availability of medically rated ages for claimants with shortened life expectancy, and specialty products (attorney fee structures, non-qualified assignments, market-linked riders) all vary by carrier.2Society of Actuaries. Structured Settlements Research Report A claimant who needs a rated age, for example, should not be placed with a carrier that does not offer medical underwriting.
Payments themselves are permanent once the settlement is finalized and cannot be accelerated or altered by the claimant, so the design choices made at placement follow the claimant for life.3Annuity.org. Structured Settlement Payout Options Selling payments later means going to a factoring company at a discount of roughly 9% to 18%.4Annuity.org. Structured Settlements That makes the initial carrier choice consequential.
The A++ Tier: Highest Financial Strength
Berkshire Hathaway Life Insurance Company of Nebraska
Part of the Berkshire Hathaway group, the company has been in the structured settlement market since 1982. Payments are assigned through BHG Structured Settlements, Inc. and may be reinsured by National Indemnity Company, which also carries an A++. New York cases are handled by First Berkshire Hathaway Life Insurance Company.5BH Structures. BH Structures Home
New York Life Insurance Company
A mutual company with more than 180 years of history and over 30 years in structured settlements. Annuities are issued by the New York Life Insurance and Annuity Corporation and guaranteed by New York Life. Industry sources describe it as the only U.S. life insurer in the structured settlement space to hold the highest financial strength marks across the major rating agencies.64structures.com. New York Life
USAA Life Insurance Company
Founded in 1963 and based in San Antonio, USAA also carries an Aa1 from Moody’s and AA from S&P. Although the parent company was built around military families, USAA’s structured settlement products are available to the general public. Cases must fall between $50,000 and $2,000,000 in premium, with a maximum 20-year deferral and 40-year guarantee period.74structures.com. USAA Life Insurance Company Structured Annuities8USAA. USAA SSA Broker Underwriting Quoting Guidelines Very large or very long-tail cases will fall outside those limits.
The A+ Tier: Still Extremely Strong
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MetLife)
One of the most established names in the market, with more than 40 years of experience and $29 billion in placements as of the end of 2024. MetLife makes guaranteed payments to more than 107,000 claimants and offers qualified and non-qualified assignments, structured installment sales, and mass tort solutions.9MetLife. Five Questions to Ask About an Insurance Company10MetLife. Structured Settlement Solutions
Pacific Life Insurance Company
Named one of the 2025 World’s Most Ethical Companies by Ethisphere. Pacific Life is best known in this market for its Payout Plus rider, which links payment adjustments to the S&P 500 while guaranteeing that payments never fall below a specified baseline. Products are issued from Omaha, Nebraska (Pacific Life Insurance Company) and Phoenix, Arizona (Pacific Life & Annuity Company).11Pacific Life. Payout Plus Structured Settlement Annuity
The Prudential Insurance Company of America
Prudential offers traditional structured settlements and an Income Advantage indexed product with market-linked growth during a deferral period and 100% principal protection from market declines. Cost-of-living adjustments and attorney fee structures are available.12Prudential. Structured Settlements
United of Omaha Life Insurance Company
A subsidiary of Mutual of Omaha, founded in 1926. United of Omaha administers benefits to more than 72,000 annuitants and pays over $29 million in monthly benefits. It offers a wide range of payout types and cost-of-living adjustments up to 6% annual compound, with a minimum premium of $25,000. One important limitation: United of Omaha does not offer medical underwriting, so it will not produce a rated age for claimants with reduced life expectancy.13Mutual of Omaha. Underwriting Guidelines14Mutual of Omaha. Structured Settlement Annuity Overview
Athene Annuity and Life Company of Iowa
A newer entrant backed by Apollo Global Management, with $300 billion in gross invested assets. Athene received its A+ upgrade from AM Best in June 2024 and also carries A+ ratings from S&P and Fitch and A1 from Moody’s. The company announced plans to launch structured settlement operations in the second half of 2025 with both tax-qualified and non-qualified products.15NSSTA. Athene Joins Structured Settlements16Athene. Ratings
American General Life Insurance Company (Corebridge Financial)
AIG spun off its life and retirement business as Corebridge Financial in 2022, but the structured settlement issuers, American General Life and The United States Life Insurance Company in the City of New York, remained the same. The operation services more than 60,000 annuitants annually and offers structured attorneys’ fees and workers’ compensation reinsurance programs alongside standard structured settlements.17Corebridge Financial. Structured Settlements American General carries an A from AM Best.14structures.com. Structured Annuity Companies
Market-Linked Options for Buyers Who Want Upside
Traditional structured settlement annuities pay fixed, guaranteed amounts. Two carriers offer products that tie payment growth to the S&P 500 while preserving a protective floor, addressing the criticism that a fixed annuity locks a claimant into one interest rate for decades.
Pacific Life’s Payout Plus rider adjusts payments based on S&P 500 performance through a participation rate (at least 100%), a cap rate, and an adjustment rate that is subtracted from the index return. When the adjusted return exceeds the adjustment rate, payments rise; when it falls short, they can fall, but never below a guaranteed baseline.11Pacific Life. Payout Plus Structured Settlement Annuity
Prudential’s Income Advantage concentrates the index-linked growth in an upfront deferral period before payments begin. During accumulation, the contract captures S&P 500 gains up to a cap while offering 100% protection against market declines for both the original principal and any accumulated gains.12Prudential. Structured Settlements
Neither product is a direct stock investment. Both use index-linked crediting strategies and remain insurance contracts backed by the issuer’s claims-paying ability.
Payout Features to Compare Across Carriers
Every carrier on the list above can build a payment schedule from the same set of components, but the terms and add-ons differ. The building blocks include life-only annuities, period certain payments, life with period certain, joint and survivor arrangements, scheduled future lump sums, and step or percentage increases to keep pace with inflation or rising care costs.3Annuity.org. Structured Settlement Payout Options Payment frequency can be monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, or annual.2Society of Actuaries. Structured Settlements Research Report
For claimants with shortened life expectancy from their injuries, insurers that offer medical underwriting can assign a “rated age” that treats the person as older than their calendar age. This increases the per-payment amount because the expected payout period is shorter.2Society of Actuaries. Structured Settlements Research Report If a rated age is likely to matter, ask the consultant to exclude carriers that do not underwrite medically.
Because the claimant never owns the annuity directly (the payment obligation is transferred to a qualified assignee, often a subsidiary of the life insurer), all payments, including their interest component, are excluded from federal and state income tax under IRC Section 104(a)(2) when the settlement arises from personal physical injury or physical sickness.2Society of Actuaries. Structured Settlements Research Report18IRS. Tax Implications of Settlements and Judgments Punitive damages do not qualify for the exclusion.19NSSTA. Federal Tax Policy
How to Get Quotes and What You’ll Pay in Commission
Claimants do not typically shop for annuity carriers directly. A licensed structured settlement consultant obtains and compares quotes from multiple life insurers, designs the payment structure around the claimant’s life care plan, and handles the closing paperwork. There are roughly 800 licensed settlement consultants in the United States.20Annuity Freedom. Structured Settlement Brokers
Consultants are paid by the life insurance companies, not by the claimant. The industry-standard commission is approximately 4% of the annuity premium.21Protecting Patient Rights. The Hidden Costs of Structured Settlement Annuities The commission model has drawn scrutiny. In one case, the Connecticut Supreme Court found that defense brokers had returned 25% to 75% of their commissions to the defendant’s insurer through undisclosed rebating, reducing what was actually spent on the claimant’s annuity.22Settlement Planners. Macomber v. Travelers Property and Casualty Corp.
New York is the only state that requires annuity providers to disclose the actual cost of the annuity, meaning the dollar amount the defendant paid to create it, under New York General Obligations Law ยง 5-1701.21Protecting Patient Rights. The Hidden Costs of Structured Settlement Annuities Elsewhere, a claimant may not learn whether the defendant funded the annuity at full settlement value or kept part of the difference. Ask.
If You Receive SSI or Medicaid, the Annuity Should Not Pay You Directly
Structured settlement payments have never been formally excluded from countable income under Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Medicaid rules, even though they are excluded from federal income tax.23Independent Life. Structured Settlements and Medicaid Receiving payments directly can end benefits eligibility.
The standard fix is to make the annuity payable to a special needs trust (SNT) rather than to the claimant. Under the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, settlement funds held in a properly established SNT do not count against SSI or Medicaid asset limits. SNTs with investment portfolios typically require at least roughly $300,000 in funding to justify professional trustee expenses, and they carry a payback provision requiring reimbursement to Medicaid at the beneficiary’s death. Annuity payments into the trust remain tax-free, though investment income earned inside the trust is subject to federal income tax.24BD Law. Annuities and SNTs This is a decision to make before the annuity is issued, not after.