Injury Demand Letter

The Format

The injury demand letter is perhaps one of the most powerful tools to get a good settlement. Most attorneys write their letters and some decide negotiate directly with the insurance adjuster. Writing a letter will give you more time to think about your injury and about the type of claims and arguments you should raise.

The letter should start with a heading that says “Letter of Demand” or “Injury Demand Letter.” We usually write this at the top of the letter, bolded and underlined. In other words, we do not hide this. You want to make as clear as possible to the adjuster knows this is your offer of settlement.

It is important that you note that this letter is limited to settlement negotiations or arbitration only. In other words, your letter of demand cannot be used later on for trial or as damaging evidence against you. This is usually a problem in arbitration as evidence rules could exclude this type of letter from a later trial.

The letter should be addressed to your injury adjuster, name, and title. Your letter should always include your policy number and your claim number.

Also, you need to identify whether you are an insured or a claimant (if you are going after your own insurance company, then you are an insured; if you are going after the insurance company of the person that hit, then you are a claimant). It is equally important to note the date of the accident.

Your letter should also be numbered by pages, and the date should be in every single page. A good injury demand letter is no shorter than three pages single spaced.

All of this information is key to help the adjuster match your letter to your file. Most insurance companies are very big and correspondence can get lost in different departments. Assuring that all this information is in your letter will give you the peace of mind that the insurance company will not claim that they misplaced your letter or they never got it (some carrier will argue this). This brings me to the next point.

Your injury demand letter should always be sent certified return receipt. This is critical because you need proof that the insurance company received the correspondence so they cannot argue just that.

Your letter should address why you are entitled to compensation and how much compensation will “persuade” you to sign a release of any and all claims against the responsible party and/or the insurance company.

The letter should be signed and you should point out that exhibits are enclosed. You should request an answer by certain date. It is best if you request that this response be given to you in writing. It is important to have the insurance company put in writing their evaluation of the claim and why they feel your claim is not worth what you are asking for. This can help you argue in the future or to even document a bad faith lawsuit.

It is very important to have a professional injury demand letter. The above suggestions are only to ensure you look professional. You certainly do not want to tell the insurance company you do not know what you are doing. They will soon capitalize on that fact.

Get a great Bodily Injury E-book for more key information.

When to write an Injury Settlement Demand Letter

The Actual Injury Demand Letter – the Format

The Content of the Demand Letter - What should it say?

Examples of the injury demand letter

Subsequent Demand letters - After your demand letter, then what?