Litigation

Truth In Structured Settlement Advertising SSP is NOT a Professional Designation!

By John Darer

One settlement consultant places the initials SSP after the surname and CSSC  (i.e. The Name, CSSC, SSP). CSSC stands for Certified Structured Settlement Consultant, but what does SSP stand for? 

A good guess from the fact that the individual's bio mentions Society of Settlment Planners (SSP) twice,   would be Society of Settlement Planners.  As of 1/2/2009 however, this individual DOES NOT come up on a member search on that organization's website.

A quick look for other ideas for the letters "SSP" in Wikipedia comes up with "Summer Scenic Program", "Stainless Steel Product", "Society of Scholarly Publishing" and "Subspecies". That has possibilities, after all aren't structured settlement consultants a "subspecies" of something? Nah, that's not quite it!

So what do we have here? Is a settlement consultant (who is an NSSTA member) attempting to pass off apparent feigned membership of a professional association as a professional designation in an attempt to elevate credibility? Whether it's intentional or unintentional it's just plain B.S. What is the responsibility of the managing general agent on whose website it is posted?  Under most state insurance and securities laws a website is considered advertising and subject to truth in advertising laws.

In 2007 an NSSTA member general agency was exposed for passing off the non existent "Registered Settlement Adviser" as a professional designation in its promotional materials.

I know such revelations don't make me a popular guy with those who are errant,  but then I'm just the messenger (and someone who believes, like those who make and regulate the laws, that real professional designations earned , not imaginary ones, have a value to consumers)

Full post as published by Structured Settlements 4Real on January 03, 2009 (boomark / email).