Scout InsurTech Interview with SettlementDoneEasy

SettlementDoneEasy is a Web-Based Personal Injury Claims Payment Platform. They seek to replace paper settlement checks sent through the mail with an ACH E-Settlement payment sent, electronically and securely, from the Insurance Carrier to the Lawyer’s Trust account. Chris Luiz sat with Founder, Shannon Elsea, to learn more about how SettlementDoneEasy is impacting the industry.

Who are your clients?

We serve clients in the property and casualty insurance sector, primarily insurance carriers. Additionally, our clients include personal injury law firms and attorneys handling personal injury cases.

What does your product do?

Our platform facilitates the direct exchange of an insurance company's release for an ACH settlement payment. This eliminates the need for paper checks, allowing funds to move seamlessly from the insurance company to the law firm’s trust or account. By replacing mailed paper checks, we streamline and expedite the settlement process. However, SettlementDoneEasy is more than just an ACH payment. Our proprietary process complies with all state and federal legal/ethical requirements that govern how Personal Injury Attorneys must handle client funds.

How much capital have you raised?

We are entirely bootstrapped and have not raised external capital at this point.

Was the company born from within or outside the industry?

SettlementDoneEasy was conceived from firsthand industry experience. As a personal injury lawyer, I witnessed inefficiencies in the settlement payment process, especially during COVID-19. While we could sign releases in minutes using DocuSign, we were still waiting on paper checks in the mail—often delayed due to postal service disruptions. Recognizing this pain point, I knew there had to be a better way, and that’s how SettlementDoneEasy was born.

What growth metrics have you accomplished over the last 12 months?

• We launched our working website in June 2024, allowing real-time fund transfers.

• Our platform is fully operational—if we have a customer, we can process payments today.

• We were selected as an Innovation Alley presenter at InsurTech Connect in Las Vegas in 2024, gaining strong industry recognition.

• While we have received promising traction through word-of-mouth, we are still working on securing our first insurance carrier as a client.

  
  

Within your domain, what is the current challenge that the industry is facing?

The legacy system of mailing paper checks. But, insurance carriers know that the current settlement payment process is outdated and inefficient. What once took a week to receive a check has now stretched to three weeks, with an additional three-day clearing period at the bank. The other problem is $1 billion worth of checks were stolen from the mail in 2024 and sold on the dark web. Fifty-five percent of all paper checks issued last year came from insurance companies, making them prime targets for fraud.

For individuals awaiting settlement funds—many of whom are in financial distress—these delays are frustrating and unnecessary. In contrast, over 90 percent of Americans receive their paychecks by direct deposit, and 70 percent pay their bills digitally. For Millennials and Gen Zs, over 82 percent use electronic payments EXCLUSIVELY. There’s no reason settlement payments should still be reliant on slow, costly and antiquated paper checks.

How does SettlementDoneEasy take a unique approach to providing value?

Our platform allows insurance companies to issue settlement payments electronically for less than the cost of a postage stamp. While mailing a paper check costs, according to 2024 surveys, $5.91 per transaction, our solution enables payment processing for just $0.50 per transaction.

With a simple five-field input and an attached release, an insurance adjuster can instantly initiate an ACH transfer—eliminating delays, reducing administrative overhead and cutting mailing costs. Faster claim resolution benefits all parties involved, ensuring injured individuals receive their settlement funds quickly. Also, SettlementDoneEasy’s proprietary process means there’s no physical check that can be lost, stolen or delayed in the mail.

What inspired the team to start this company?

The inspiration comes from my clients. I spent years working with claimants whose lives are upended by accidents. They have to wait weeks, after the settlement is reached and release signed, for a paper check to be delivered by the post office. The USPS’s inefficiencies have been in the news, and last year one out of every four letters were delivered late. Combine that with the 700 percent increase in check theft from the mail since 2022, this made me believe that there has to be a better way. E-payments have become the norm and it’s time for insurance carriers to catch up to the times.

Can you share any goals for the next 12 months?

Our primary goal is to sign our first insurance carrier. Once we onboard the first carrier and they experience the efficiency of SettlementDoneEasy, we expect others to follow quickly.

The industry recognizes that the mail is a problem from millions of dollars worth of checks stolen and sold on the dark web, exposing the carriers to fraud and theft, to frustrated lawyers/claimants, to rising postage rates, to stop-pays and reissued payment costs, to costly FedEx mailers. SettlementDoneEasy solves all of these issues, and it does at a price point that will save carriers millions over the real costs to mail a check. We believe SettlementDoneEasy will become the industry standard for processing Personal Injury Settlement payments.

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