If you receive payments from a John Hancock structured settlement, your contract is still being administered by John Hancock even though the company no longer writes new structured settlement annuities. John Hancock Life Insurance Company, a subsidiary of Manulife Financial Corporation, continues to make all scheduled payments on its legacy block of contracts and keeps a dedicated service team for annuitants and their beneficiaries.1Research file
Most of what you’ll need to do with the contract over its life — update an address, switch to direct deposit, name a new beneficiary, verify your income for a lender, or file a claim after a death — runs through a specific phone line, a set of forms, and in some cases a court order. The details are below.
Contacting John Hancock About an Existing Annuity
The structured settlements service line is 1-866-275-5477, open Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern. A TTY line is available at 1-800-555-1158. Online account access and a virtual assistant for login and password problems are available through the John Hancock website.1Research file
Routine paperwork can be submitted on paper or signed digitally through DocuSign. John Hancock provides downloadable forms for the tasks annuitants ask about most often:
- Change of address on the annuity contract
- Change of beneficiary (adding or modifying who inherits remaining payments)
- Electronic Fund Transfer setup or change, so payments go directly to a bank account
- Verification of income, which produces formal documentation of your annuity benefits for a loan application or a government program
Mail completed forms to John Hancock Structured Settlements, PO Box 55446, Boston, MA 02205-5446. For overnight delivery, use 372 University Avenue, Suite 55446, Westwood, MA 02090.1Research file
Setting Up Direct Deposit
To enroll in EFT, your bank must be a member of the ACH network, and you’ll need to send a voided check or a signed letter on bank letterhead with the form. A new EFT instruction can take up to two payment cycles to take effect, so don’t close the old account immediately.1Research file
One clause in the EFT agreement is worth knowing before you sign it. By authorizing direct deposit, the payee also authorizes John Hancock to debit the account to recover any payments made in error after the annuitant’s death. If the account is jointly held, the joint owner agrees to notify John Hancock of the death, refund any post-death deposits, and may be personally liable for payments dated after the payee died.1Research file This matters because structured settlement payments stop at death unless the contract has a specific guaranteed period, and a deposit that lands after death is not yours to keep.
Filing a Claim After an Annuitant Dies
Beneficiaries should notify John Hancock as soon as possible. The claims number is 1-877-543-2363, and an online death notification form is also available. Once a claim is opened, John Hancock will ask for a death certificate before it discusses contract specifics by phone.1Research file
Each beneficiary completes an Annuity Claim Form plus a tax form — IRS Form W-9 for U.S. persons or Form W-8 for non-U.S. persons. Additional documents depend on who is claiming:
- An estate claim needs Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration
- A minor beneficiary receiving less than $10,000 needs a birth certificate
- A minor beneficiary receiving $10,000 or more needs a court-appointed guardian
- Any name change since the policy was issued (for example, a marriage certificate) must be documented
You can submit the paperwork online by calling to request a secure upload link, fax it to 1-617-663-3389, or mail it to John Hancock, Annuities Service Center, PO Box 55444, Boston, MA 02205-5444. If the contract was issued in New York, use PO Box 55445, Boston, MA 02205-5445 instead. A claim is not settled until every named beneficiary has returned complete paperwork, so one missing form can hold up everyone else’s payment.1Research file
Selling Future Payments for a Lump Sum
Structured settlements are built to be permanent, but if your circumstances change, factoring companies such as J.G. Wentworth will buy some or all of your future payments and pay you a lump sum now. The lump sum is always meaningfully less than the total value of what you give up. Courts reviewing these deals have documented effective annual rates between 36% and 68%, with some cases reaching 100%.1Research file
No sale is valid without a court order. Every state has a structured settlement protection act requiring a judge to approve the transfer before it takes effect. The requirements are broadly similar: in New York, for example, the judge must find the transfer is in the payee’s best interest (including the welfare of dependents), that the discount rate and fees are fair and reasonable, and that the payee received a disclosure statement at least ten days before signing. The payee cannot waive these protections.1Research file
Judges weigh the payee’s age, financial sophistication, dependents, intended use of the money, and how recently any prior settlement funds were received. Some original settlement agreements add their own conditions — a requirement to show “extreme, unforeseen and uncontemplated financial hardship,” for instance — and courts will enforce those on top of the state statute. A factoring company listing for John Hancock also notes a six-month cooldown period from the date of a court order before another transfer can be processed.1Research file
Federal law reinforces all of this. IRC Section 5891, enacted in the Victims of Terrorism Tax Relief Act of 2001, imposes a 40% excise tax on the acquirer in any factoring transaction that doesn’t have a qualifying court order. The tax is calculated on the factoring discount — the gap between the total undiscounted payments and what the seller actually receives — which makes an unapproved purchase uneconomic for the buyer.1Research file
Shop more than one offer, read the disclosure statement carefully, and remember that you’re trading tax-free lifetime income for cash today at a steep discount.
Are the Payments Safe?
Because structured settlement payments can run for decades, the issuer’s financial strength is a legitimate concern. John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) holds an A+ (Superior) financial strength rating from AM Best with a stable outlook. John Hancock entities have also been rated AA- by S&P Global, A1 by Moody’s, and AA by Fitch. AM Best notes that its ratings measure relative credit risk and that a company is not considered financially impaired absent a public court order for conservation, rehabilitation, or liquidation.1Research file
If a life insurer did become insolvent, the state life and health insurance guaranty association in your state of residence would step in to continue covered benefits up to statutory limits. For annuities, limits generally range from $250,000 to $500,000 in present value depending on the state. North Carolina provides a notably higher limit of $1 million specifically for structured settlement annuities; Minnesota sets its structured settlement limit at $410,000. Benefits above the cap become claims against the liquidated insurer’s remaining assets, and the National Organization of Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Associations coordinates when a large insurer fails.1Research file
Which John Hancock Entity Issued Your Contract
John Hancock structured settlement annuities were issued by one of two entities depending on where the policy was written. John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.) is domiciled in Michigan, having redomesticated there from Maine in December 1992 after corporate name changes tied to Manulife’s acquisition. John Hancock Life Insurance Company of New York, based in Valhalla, New York, handles policies issued in that state. Both operate under the John Hancock brand within Manulife Financial Corporation’s U.S. operations.1Research file The issuing entity on your contract determines the mailing address for a death claim, as noted above.