The Applicant's Shortcut to Some Money... The Advance
As discussed earlier, an advance payment to the Plaintiff is a way to shorten the time between the injury and receiving money for the injury. In other words, it is a shortcut.
The elements for an advance agreement involve a good case as outlined above and an agreement between the injured party (the Applicant) and the advance company. It is obvious from the earlier discussion of the “Plaintiff’s Cut” that, at least mathematically, not only can the advance payment not be the total settlement amount or judgment award, it can’t even be the entire remaining amount that the Plaintiff will ultimately receive. The advance payment is a lesser, but still meaningful (and sometimes significant) percentage of the amount that the advance company predicts that the Plaintiff will receive after the lawyer’s cut is subtracted.
The most important attribute of an advance payment is the speed. After validating the circumstances and facts about the case with the Applicant and with their lawyer, the advance company will digitally transmit the advance agreement (if possible and if not, they will use a paper copy and the mail) to the Applicant. Once the agreement has been signed and delivered back to the advance company, the transfer of funds from the advance company to the Applicant can take place in less than 24 hours but usually no more than 48.
This may have you thinking about another important question: If advance companies are in the public marketplace, then why doesn’t the Applicant just try to get an advance on their own? Or, putting it another way, why does an Applicant even need an independent Case Broker?