A car accident happens in an instant. One misguided lane change or distraction can trigger a crash that damages your car and causes you to suffer a serious personal injury. What happens in a second can take months or longer to resolve. Part of that resolution process is filing a claim with an insurance carrier. The challenge is getting the insurance company to pay out, and that starts after a lawyer sends a demand letter.
What Is a Demand Letter?
According to United States Courts, there were 344,567 civil filings nationwide in 2021. Kansas accounted for 1,385 of those filings. It is a safe bet that most of those filings involved some form of demand letter.
A demand letter is drafted by your Wichita personal injury attorney and sent to either your insurance company or the negligent motorist’s insurance company. That letter spells out the dollar amount that you and your attorney have decided would be fair compensation for your losses as a result of the accident.
The demand letter will also present the facts of the case, including the following:
- Date, time, and location of the accident
- Details of all the injuries sustained in the accident
- An outlining of medical provider information and treatment received from them
- All expenses associated with the accident
- Details regarding the physical and emotional impact of the accident
Documenting Negligence
It’s not enough to just demand compensation. In personal injury cases, it’s necessary to also establish elements of negligence. Your attorney will lay this out enough to show that you’re not at fault for the accident and, therefore, deserve the compensation. Some of the evidence that could be cited when making these assertions in the demand letter is the following:
- The police report
- Security camera footage of the accident
- Accident scene photos
- Witness statements
When Do Demand Letters Get Sent Out?
Typically, personal injury attorneys wait to send out the demand letter after their clients have reached maximum medical improvement (MMI). The U.S. Department of Labor defines MMI as “when the covered illness is stabilized and is unlikely to improve with or without additional medical treatment.”
However, if the accident was a fatal one or your doctor has prescribed ongoing medical treatment, it may warrant sending the letter much sooner than would otherwise be the case.
What To Expect After Your Attorney Remits a Demand Letter to an Insurer
A demand letter is close to an official document. In other words, insurers can’t ignore it because, if they do, they risk falling on the wrong side of a bad faith insurance claim. However, insurance companies will, nonetheless, do their best to drag their feet. Insurance companies don’t like to pay on claims. That is why attorneys must demand compensation to agitate them to settle.
Most insurance companies will take up to 30 to 45 days to remit an official response to that correspondence. By that time, an insurance adjuster will have conducted its own investigation. They will have reviewed the medical expenses, the accident report, and other evidence. After their investigation is complete, they will respond in one of the three different ways:
Accept Your Demand
This is unlikely because out of principle insurers like to deny liability or negotiate amounts. However, should an insurer accept the demanded amount, they will generate a release and shortly thereafter, a settlement check.
Counteroffer and Settlement Negotiations
More commonly than not, if liability is clear, the insurance company might present a counteroffer to the demanded amount.
That number might reflect what the company feels is fair based on their own estimates. However, it will be hard for them to challenge actual medical expenses, but that might take exception to the noneconomic damages, like pain and suffering or emotional distress.
That counteroffer will be met with a new number from your attorney. These negotiations can go back and forth until there is a mutually agreed-upon amount.
Denied Claim
The insurance company can deny your claim. That means they are stating that they don’t accept the liability and therefore they’re not going to pay.
With the denied claim, the option would be to move forward with a trial. That would allow your attorney to present the evidence to a jury along with witness testimony. The strength of your case could compel the insurance company to come back and offer another settlement. That can happen even after the trial is started.
The Right Legal Team
In the case of the first two options listed above, accepting your demand outright or engaging in negotiations, once you sign a settlement agreement with an insurer, you surrender your right to go back to the insurance company to ask for more money. And, if you take your case to trial because an insurer appears to be unwilling to make a fair payout, you risk not securing any compensation for your losses.
In order to get a favorable outcome, you need the right legal team on your side. You can find the best advocates at Prochaska, Howell & Prochaska LLC. So, whether you’ve been involved in a car crash or had another Wichita accident that caused you to sustain significant losses, you should call today for a free consultation. Let’s discuss your case and explore all the options.
