As a plaintiff in an injury case, the best way is to settle out of the court with minimum risk involved. If planning to settle out of the court, here is what you need to be prepared of which is a negotiation process that involved writing a demand letter. Know how you can frame the best letter with the help of personal injury attorney.
After youve been involved in a serious accident, the difficult to deal with injuries may be troubling you a lot. But then, this isnt supposed to end here, if your belief says a high amount of negligence was shown that resulted into such mess; the injury lawsuit has to be filed. When involved in an injury case, the first most important thing, as well as the most difficult one, is interacting with the insurance adjuster. Nobody wants to go to the legal trial to stretch their case, thus the other alternatives we choose are settling out of the court. For this specific reason, negotiation becomes a part of it, and in the negotiation, you can expect some amount that you, as well as the other party, have to compromise on. Your Freehold personal injury attorney can become a savior! In many situations like this, the insufficient amount of knowledge that you have related to your case can be one reason why negotiation and writing a demand letter could be impossible for you. Personal injury claims are hard ones and thus for this very reason, you have to make sure that there are no flaws in the demand letter. It acts as the key to your compensation. Now if you arent aware exactly what role does a demand letter hold for you and the insurance companies, here we go:
What is A Demand Letter?
Why is everyone around you talking about a demand letter after youve been involved in an accident and about to communicate with the insurance adjuster? For the audience not really aware why a demand letter is written and whats the purpose of this, invest your time reading further:
This letter is sent to the insurance company, it holds the claim details, your case details, your injury report, your overall post accident problems, and difficulties. This letter gives the insurance adjuster some common reasons of why you are expecting compensation, and the total amount of compensation that you expect should also be mentioned in it.
What to Mention in the Letter?
Now once you are aware of the demand letter, the next question is what exactly needs to be mentioned in the letter? Though your Freehold personal injury attorney will guide you as what needs to be mentioned in this letter, it is always better to be updated with what must and must not be done. If your attorney fails to put out any pointers in, or mistakenly forgot any point then the knowledge generated from this article might give you the possible space to fill in for the demand letter.
Disclaimer
Your most important details in the letter should be the bold disclaimer that states “For insurance purpose only” Make sure to begin your demand letter with this statement as it is utmost important.
Introduction Overview
1. Here you are not just going to introduce about yourself, but about other parties too.
2. Your full name, your address plus the contact details as well as the email Id has to be on the top
3. The insurance companys information addresses, as well as the contact details, also dont miss out to write information about the insurance adjuster, their name and address.
4. Do write when the accident happens, what was the time, the day, the date.
5. Also not to forget: Write the Month, date, year of when you are writing this demand letter.
6. Also without fail the claim number that is provided to you should also be mentioned here because if you dont mention the claim number, the insurance company wont accept the letter I any possible way.
7. The other party details their name, address, vehicle number plate; contact information shouldnt be missed out.
The body of the Letter
1. Explain in brief about the condition post accident
2. A brief overview of how the accident occurred and what was the reason behind the accident?
3. Mention that you are writing this letter in your sense and really looking forward to settling this case.
4. A brief explanation of the injuries incurred to you as well as the amount of health care you are taking post-accident.
5. You have to also mention the documents attached in this letter.
Background Details
State that the accident occurred to you was the reason the current injuries are generated, apart from that if you had any pre-existing injuries you must also mention it because if known later by the insurance company they may assume you were hiding the truth.
1. Also, the other important things you can mention here is the police report and all the other medical related documents that prove of you being injured.
2. This is probably spaced wherein you have to mention all the necessary documents here.
3. Also, this is a space wherein you have to mention why you consider the other person to pay you the amount.
4. Also, negligence shown by the other driver can be mentioned in brief with all the necessary evidence attached for this point.
5. Remember, the more you show the insurance adjuster the other persons negligence the better your personal injury cases will turn towards your side.
Injuries/ Damages
1. All the amount of injuries that you have incurred should be mentioned under this point, if you have medical records you can explain each one of it.
2. If you are still considering a medical
professional then you probably have to mention it here about the future medical expenses.
3. Apart from that your emotional trauma, depression, anxiety post accident shouldnt be missed out because this comes under noneconomic damages.
4. All the loss you have incurred should be without failed mentioned in the demand letter because this is what you need to prove to the adjuster.
Attachments
As mentioned above, all the related documents to your case should be noted without fail.
1. Medical reports
2. Accident report
3. Investigation reports
4. The entire medical related tests you have had
5. Apart from that the police report
6. Images of the accident spot, your injuries, the
condition of the vehicle, any other damage
7. Witness details
8. Witness statement
9. Audio or video recordings