Demand Letter

Increase Pain and Suffering Compensation

A demand letter is an important part of your negotiations with the insurance company. Writing a strong letter can significantly increase the amount of your personal injury settlements.

A convincing letter of demand answers the following questions:

1. How is the other driver responsible for your damages?
2. How severe and serious were your injuries? Are there any long term consequences?
3. How did the injuries affect your personal lifestyle?
4. What were your expenses and medical treatments?
5. Did your injuries cause you to lose any income or wages?

At the end, you will ask for a specific settlement amount. (Use personal injury settlements calculator to determine how much your claim is worth).

What does the insurance company do with the demand letter?

The claims letter is the center piece of your negotiations with the insurance company. The insurance company will look at the points you made and then go through all the car accident information they have collected. This includes pictures, witness statements, car accident reports etc.

The insurance company will then calculate what your personal injury settlement is really worth. Once they have a settlement figure, they will contact you with a counter offer. This process will go back and forth until both of your reach a final settlement amount.

What you should not include in your letter of demand

When you are writing to the insurance company, your focus should always be on giving the most convincing arguments on why you should get a specific settlement. Therefore, you should leave out any information that might weaken your insurance claim.

For example, the insurance company will try to lower your claim by saying you were partially responsible for the accident. This is known as comparative negligence.

However, even if you are somewhat responsible for the accident, you should never admit this in your claims letter. It is not your responsibility to make arguments against yourself. That’s the job of the insurance company. If the insurance company spots a flaw in your reasoning, they can address it later during negotiations. If they do not, you are not obligated to raise the issue.

Your goal is to make your case stronger. If you do feel that the issue of comparative negligence will come up, address it by citing evidence in your favor.

For example, you can include statements like “there are no witnesses or issues raised in the police report, that show I was in any way responsible for this car crash.”

Benefits of a Strong Claims Letter

Having a well organized and convincing demand letter increases your chances of getting a high personal injury settlement. A strong letter of demand shows the insurance company that you are knowledgeable about how the claims process works and that you understand how much your settlement is worth. This gives you a great advantage when you start negotiating your accident settlements with the insurance claims adjuster.

Read the following articles to make your injury claim as strong as possible: