Viatical Definition

The common viatical definition is; the sale of an existing life insurance policy that is insuring a terminally ill person in exchange for an immediate cash payment. Typically a viatical definition is predicated upon the health of an insured. The health of the insured determines if the sale of a life insurance policy is called a life settlement or meets the viatical definition. When referring to an accepted viatical definition, the person insured by the policy must be terminally ill. The viatical definition gained traction in the 1980’s. It was then that AIDS patients sought money for medical and living expenses. They sold their life insurance policies to investors. The AIDS patients were happy to get much needed money, while the investors viewed the arrangement as a low risk investment in which they would get paid upon the insured’s death. With that the viatical industry and viatical definition as we now know them were born.

How is the definition of viatical different from state to state?

The definition of viatical is clearly the sale of a life insurance policy covering a terminally ill patient for an immediate cash payment. Most people agree that the phrase terminally ill means; to have an incurable illness or disease that will result in death in the near future. However, the length of time that phrase refers to is not universally agreed upon. This is evidenced by the language employed by various states when discussing the definition of viatical. For the definition of viatical in California, a viatical is stated as involving the sale of an insurance policy of insureds with 23 months or less to live. In Texas, the definition of viatical is broad enough to include anyone with a 48 month life expectancy or less. While Washington state insurance regulations provide the definition of viatical to include anyone with a terminal illness, but don’t define the life expectancy or definition of terminal illness. So the viatical definition is in general the same across the country. Although the definition of terminally ill which is an integral part of the definition of viatical is not.

Viatical Expert

Using a viatical expert is highly suggested when selling an insurance policy in a viatical transaction. The viatical expert should be a viatical broker, licensed to transact viatical settlements in the state of residence of the policy seller. Having a viatical expert on your side during these transactions is extremely important. First, they have access to a large number of viatical settlement companies that purchase viatical policies. In order to gain the highest offer for a policy, the maximum number of companies should be engaged in the bidding process. In addition, a viatical expert will be able to help a policy seller, also known as a viator, navigate the paperwork and documentation requirements of a viatical. Most importantly, having a viatical expert on your side reduces mistakes and speeds up the viatical process. The viatical definition and context of terminal illness conveys a sense of urgency. So finding a speedy, yet top dollar viatical settlement offer is very important and having a licensed viatical expert will help you achieve this. For more information on working with a viatical expert, please contact us at (888) 539-8885.