Getting seriously injured can be a life-altering event. Activities you used to do all the time might now be painful or impossible. Your mobility might be impacted, limiting where you can go and what you can do. And you might find yourself unable to work, losing out on both income and peace of mind.

A demand letter for personal injury is one of the first steps in gaining redress for an injury caused by a third party. Unfortunately, we see people trying to craft and deliver these on their own, which often leads to them getting less than they deserve…or getting nothing, even when they have a compelling case. When the stakes are high, as they are with personal injury cases, a DIY approach is never recommended. 

What Does a Successful Demand Letter Require?

Writing a successful demand letter when you’re injured and in pain can be challenging. There are a few things that a demand letter needs to be successful, but perhaps most important is to keep a neutral tone. Failure to do so may result in poor outcomes should the case proceed to a trial.

Information About the Incident

In a demand letter, it’s important to include the full name and address of the recipient and the party sending the letter. It’s also essential to clearly outline the incident and the date and time when it occurred. Including these details makes your demand letter for personal injury more effective.

Claim

The claim is where you outline the remedy you expect due to the incident. Most often, in injury cases, this is monetary compensation. People often struggle with determining how much they should ask for in the demand letter. Most people either wildly overestimate how much they should receive, or in some cases, underestimate how much they’re owed. That number is based on the individual case and legal precedent and can be difficult to calculate on your own.

An experienced attorney, on the other hand, will be familiar with many cases similar to your own, and so can better pinpoint the maximum amount you would be able to claim. You can see a good example of this in our sample demand letter.

However, it’s crucial to be aware of low settlement offers, which are common in personal injury cases. Insurance companies often present these offers to minimize their payouts. That’s why it is so important for anyone filing a personal injury claim to understand how the settlement amount is calculated—and the tricks that insurance companies pull in order to justify a low settlement offer. 

Supporting Evidence

Next, your attorney will gather evidence that supports your case. This may be a copy of a police report about the accident or photos or videos of the incident. A well-drafted demand letter for personal injury will include strong supporting evidence to bolster your claim.

Expected Resolution

Your attorney should also clearly outline the expected resolution—what the other party needs to do to address your claim satisfactorily. Reviewing a sample demand letter can provide insights into how to phrase your expected resolution effectively.

Deadline

Finally, an experienced personal injury attorney will include a deadline for a response stating that you plan to pursue legal action if you don’t receive a response by the deadline. Setting a clear deadline in your demand letter is critical to avoid unnecessary delays.

What Happens When You Get a Response?

Once you’ve sent a demand letter, there’s a good chance you will get a response. Sometimes, the other party will agree to your demands. In that case, your attorney will produce a legally binding contract that details the agreements between you and them and make sure that it’s something they can agree to. The other party may also attempt to produce a contract, so you have to be careful not to sign something away accidentally.

However, other times the response might not be what you’re expecting. They may refuse to accept your demands, or make a counteroffer that you can’t accept. The next step in those situations is legal action. Whether the response is positive or negative, you’ll definitely want your lawyer to ensure that everything you do and any contracts you sign are legally square.

What Happens When You Don’t Get a Response?

Sometimes, you don’t get a response to a demand letter. This is not a great move by the other party, but when it happens, it can be tricky to determine what the next steps should be. Most of the time, the next step will be to escalate to a lawsuit, but the specifics vary based on the situation. Making the wrong move here can damage your case, so again, if you want the best odds of success, it’s important to engage a lawyer at or before this happens.

Other Reasons You Should Reach out to a Lawyer for Your Demand Letter

To recap, some potential negative outcomes of attempting to handle such a complex process on your own include:

• Low settlement offers
• Ignored or delayed responses
• Weak or ineffective claims
• Inadequate supporting evidence
• Damaging the case in court
• Accidental acceptance of unfavorable terms

Beyond these common unfortunate results of a DIY demand letter, there are other reasons that you should consider hiring an attorney.

Law Firm’s Name on the Letterhead

While it may sound like a small thing at first, having a law firm’s name on the letterhead can transform how the other party responds to your demand letter. If you send it on your own, the reality is that they may not take it super seriously. They may respond, but they might slow roll the process. Or they may try to take advantage of you, especially if they get the sense that your legal knowledge is low.

A law firm representing you from the demand letter onwards increases the odds that they’ll take your claim seriously and puts a structure in place to help things run more smoothly. Not only will your attorney help you better know what to expect throughout the process, but they will also know what to do to help motivate the other party to move quickly so that your issue can be resolved without undue delay.

Focus on Healing

If you have to write a demand letter for personal injury, you may be in a situation where you have several significant issues to deal with. You may be in pain, seeing doctors frequently, or out of work or dealing with an ever-growing pile of bills. When all that is happening, crafting the perfect demand letter and then managing the process can be too much. With an attorney engaged in the process, you can focus on your healing and have the peace of mind that your legal matters are being handled without having to do all the work yourself.

How Kane Helps with Demand Letters

At Kane Personal Injury, we specialize in personal injury law. We’ve prepared hundreds of demand letters and have helped our clients receive the maximum compensation for their injuries. We offer 100 percent free consultations to talk through your case and your options. Reviewing a sample demand letter with us can also provide clarity on what to include in your own demand letter.

Contact us today to learn about what Kane can do for you.