"In two years, this industry has grown by nearly 50 percent as injury victims and their families have increasingly migrated to the long-term security provided by structures," said Andrew J. Larsen, president of NSSTA and executive vice president of GE Financial Assurance.

Mr. Larsen noted that the year 2000 was the structured settlement industry's best in history, when 25 percent more annuities were sold to provide benefits to accident victims than in 1999.

Recognized by Congress since 1982, structured settlements provide a stream of tax-free payments to injury victims and their families.

Randy Dyer, executive vice president of NSSTA, said that recent federal action concerning structured settlements sets the stage for further strong growth. On Jan. 23, as part of a federal tax relief package for victims of the Sept. 11 attacks, President George W. Bush signed into law an important consumer protection for recipients of structured settlement payments.

Under the new Victims of Terrorism Tax Relief Act of 2001, Public Law No. 107-134, 115 Stat. 2427, court approval will be required for injury victims who choose to sell structured settlement payments to a third-party company.

Mr. Dyer also cited passage in 1997 of a federal law that facilitates the use of structured settlements to resolve workers' compensation cases.

"Increasingly, as these cases
head toward final resolution, we expect to see more and more workers opting to include a structure as part of their settlement," he said.

Among other factors driving the trend towards structured settlements is the current economic climate, according to Peter Arnold, a representative for the association.

He noted the collapse of Enron and mentioned that NSSA had heard anecdotally from plaintiff attorneys about a new willingness to consider structured settlements for their clients given the continuing financial turmoil.

NSSTA claims a membership of more than 500.