personal injury demand letter
After the client has finished treating and a significant amount of time has passed to ensure that there will be no permanent injury or long term sequalae, a demand package (also known as a Settlement Brochure) is sent to the insurance claims adjuster. There are a few ways this can be done, but the simplest way is with a demand letter and indexed copies of all the supporting documentation.
The letter is broken down into the following topics:
The background of the case including a description of the incident
A description of the client’s injuries and treatment
A tally of the client’s medical specials and other economic losses
A statement regarding the client’s non economic losses (pain and suffering)
A description of how the insured is liable for the client’s injuries
A demand for money to compensate the client
From the start of the case, you should be collecting documentation of all the facts. The police report and damage estimates will be part of your investigation. Also, photos of the damaged vehicle and the client’s injuries are important.
Instruct the client to keep receipts of everything they spend out of pocket that relates to the incident. You should also educate the client as to how to keep a diary of how the injuries caused non economic losses. At the time of signing the client, you should have boilerplate client education materials which you give to the client to assist in helping the client to understand the personal injury process.
At the time the client is signed up, you should have begun the process of obtaining the client’s medical records and statements of charges from the medical providers. Try to establish a rapport with the providers, so that you can get them to send you updated records and bills on a regular basis.
If the client’s medical records indicate that the patient has sustained serious, permanent and/or disabling injuries, you will want to send the client back to the treating physician for a disability rating. Permanent injuries include. but are not limited to injuries that are disfiguring, such as scars, broken bones and paralysis. Disabling injuries include injuries that cause interference with the client’s “Activities of Daily Living (ADLs). You will give the client a letter to give to the doctor, that explains what you need. Remember that a serious, permanent injury resulting in disability will raise the value of the case and you will want to include the physician’s statement regarding disability in the demand. In many cases, the insurer will send your client for an IME, an Insurance Medical Examination, as is their right. The insurer will use this sham exam as a way to refute your expert’s opinion on disability as a way of reducing the amount of liability. The way to deal with this situation is to dig up as much dirt on the insurer’s IME doctor as possible. This will be discussed in a future article.
Once you have everything in place, you can assemble everything in the form of a booklet, using a pronged folder. It doesn’t hurt to have a cover, so you may want to scan and print out a photo of the client’s wrecked vehicle or a photo of the injured client to grace the front cover of the brochure.
Related posts:
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.