When you are attempting to settle a personal injury claim, one of the most important steps is submitting a written demand letter to the at-fault party’s insurance company. This letter will spell out your damages and injuries, as well as the compensation you feel is fair. At The Law Offices of Larry H. Parker we will take great care in writing this letter because the goal is to convince the insurance company to offer a fair settlement as quickly as possible.
Read on to learn more about what we will include in your demand letter. Know that though we do try to get you your settlement as soon as possible, it is more important to get a fair settlement. As a result, if it becomes necessary to take your case to trial we will not hesitate to do so. Call us now at 800-333-0000 if you are in need of a free legal case evaluation.
- The Facts of the Case
- Liability
- Damages and Injuries
- General Damages
- The Demand Amount
This is the first section and is the area of the letter in which we will lay out what happened. We will discuss who was involved, what happened, where it happened, when it happened, and how it happened. This will simply be a list of the facts of the accident.
Once we have established the facts of your case, we must show how it was the fault of the other party. We will point out all the facts and evidence that point to their liability, such as the police report, witness statement, and results of our accident recreation expert.
It is not enough to show that you have suffered injuries and damages, we must show that they were the direct result of the accident. For example, for a whiplash injury we would need to prove that the injury happened during the accident. We also need to show that you got medical care and took reasonable steps to treat your injuries.
Though they are legally referred to as “general damages,” they actually refer to damages occurred due to pain and suffering. This can be a challenging area for you, as you will have to be honest and open about how difficult the accident has been. This may leave you feeling vulnerable but it is the only way to get a fair settlement.
Finally, we will quantify the damages and injuries and provide a dollar amount for which you are willing to settle. We want to ask for a reasonable amount but we also want to keep in mind that the insurance company almost never accepts the first offer. Instead, they negotiate back and forth. As a result, we may build wiggle room into the number so that we can successfully negotiate your case.
