Drafting impactful and effective demand letters

Legal Services
Written By Amanda Breshears

Writing impactful and effective demand letters and having solid a demand packages is extremely important when it comes to adjusters reviewing and analyzing your client’s personal injury claim. If you do not provide all of the facts and supporting documents, they are likely to undervalue your clients claim from the beginning. Causing you to spend more time explaining your clients claim and why it should be valued higher. Having a well thought out and thorough demand letter and package will save you a lot of time and headache having to deal with the claims adjuster. Here are some helpful tips and things to think about while putting together demand letters and packages.

  • What claims adjusters look for when reviewing demand packages

    • Actual expenses

    • Lost income

    • Pain and suffering

    • Liability 

    • Hard injuries vs. soft tissue injuries

      • Hard injuries are more serious injuries that are proven by an x-ray or MRI. Adjusters assign higher multipliers to these injuries and they include:

        • Broken bones

        • Head injuries

        • Dislocations

        • Ligament or cartilage tears

        • Open wounds

        • Spinal disc or vertebrae injuries

        • Soft tissue injuries are less serious injuries. Adjusters usually assign a lower multiplier to soft tissue injuries and they include: 

          • Muscle sprains/strains

          • Tendon sprains/strains

          • Demand letter

          • Structure

          • Introduction paragraph. Stating when and where the collision happened and that injuries were sustained. 

          • Facts. State the facts of the case. Choose your words wisely. 

            • Stay away from words like ‘accident’ this word might suggest that the collision was simply an unfortunate event and that nobody is really to blame. Use words like ‘collision’, ‘car wreck’, or ‘crash’. 

            • Stay away from words like ‘rear-end’ use words like ‘slammed into’ or ‘smashed’ these words are more dramatic and add emphasis to the force of impact and seriousness of your clients injuries. These words also communicate to the adjuster that the collision was violent and capable of causing serious injuries. 

            • Make impactful statements like ‘the force of impact threw my client forward against his/her seatbelt and their head violently snapped forward and back.’ - statements like these details the mechanics of your client’s soft tissue injuries and help put emphasis on how their injuries were incurred and why the adjuster shouldn’t devalue any soft tissue injuries. 

            • Injuries & Medical Treatment. Detail if your client was taken by ambulance from the scene of the collision or if they were taken to the hospital by a third party. 

              • When describing injuries use words like severe headaches and extreme stiff neck pain. Using these words make the injuries sound more serious than just headache or stiff neck. 

              • State if your client missed any days at work due to their injuries. Also, state whether your client experienced any pain or issues after returning to work and whether their duties were restricted due to an exacerbation of pain while performing their duties. 

              • Include whether your client was unable to attend any special events or obligations because of lingering pain caused by the collision. This also sets up a noneconomic damages claim. 

              • Use statements like your client experienced disruptions in sleep and other daily activities. This shows that even though your client went back to work it did not end the effects of their injuries and they continue to suffer pain, emotional distress and loss of enjoyment of life. 

              • Add in continuing problems that your client is still suffering from which will suggest that your client could possibly need additional or ongoing medical care. This might cause the adjuster to want to settle the claim quickly rather than running the risk of your client incurring additional medical treatment and increasing their medical damages. 

              • State whether the client had surgery and whether they needed to make home renovations to accommodate for their wheelchair, walkers, or other assistive devices. Make sure your clients provide you with any and all receipts they have for these types of renovations. 

              • Insured’s negligence. State where the liability of the collision lies and how it was determined. 

              • Economic damages. Provide a specials table showing all of your clients medical treatment and the costs of their treatment. 

              • Show any future cost reports from medical providers if they recommended surgery and your client isn’t sure whether they want to go through surgery. 

              • Show their wage loss and provide a letter from their employer stating how many days they missed of work, their position and their hourly wage. 

              • Show their out of pocket expenses and include all receipts that your client has. 

              • Noneconomic damages. 

              • Include if your client now has a fear of driving or being a vehicle. 

              • Include whether your client sustained permanent injuries or disabilities. 

              • Seek recovery for pain and suffering, emotional distress, the loss of enjoyment of life, loss of consortium/companionship, permanent impairments/disabilities. 

              • Settlement demand. State what you are seeking to settle the case for including economic and noneconomic damages. It is also good to add in the reminder that if you are unable to reach a settlement and you are forced to file suite, your trial demand will be much higher. This tells the adjuster that have no issues with asking for more at trial. 

              • Closing. Always end your demand letter with a timeframe for the adjuster to respond by. 

              • Demand Package

              • Police report

              • Medical records and bills in reverse chronological order (most recent on top) this makes it easier for the adjuster to review your clients treatment. 

              • Photographs of the collision and damage. 

              • Estimates for auto damage (if you are handling this portion for your client). 

              • Wage loss 

              • Receipts for all out of pocket expenses

              • Helpful tips

              • Always make sure that your clients know they need to be keeping all receipts for out of pocket expenses so they can be compensated. 

              • Always have your clients keep a detailed journal documenting every time they feel pain from their injuries from the very beginning of their case. Have them include the date, time, what they were doing when they started feeling pain and on a scale from 1-10, ten being the worst pain ever, how bad their pain is. This will help when writing their demand letter and proving pain and suffering, and emotional distress. This also shows a jury what your client has had to live with due to their injuries from the collision if it goes to trial. 

              • Also, have your clients detail the things they are no longer able to do due to their injuries. Have them start gathering photos or videos of them doing the things that they enjoyed prior to the collision. These items will come in handy when preparing for trial and can be used at trial to show that your client was once active or once enjoyed certain activities and now they cannot do those activities. 

              • If your client was unable to attend a special event make sure your client saves their invitation so you can include it in your demand package as things they weren’t able to do due to their injuries.

Amanda Breshears https://meaningfulparalegalservices.com
Previous

Reviewing Business Contracts/Agreements