What Are the Sections of a Demand Letter in a Personal Injury Case?

A Demand Letter is very important in personal injury cases and presents all the facts regarding the accident/injuries, the treatment and care provided, medical bills and expenses incurred, and other relevant details. A medical review company can assist personal injury attorneys in the preparation of the demand letter by providing comprehensive review of the medical chart to identify various relevant medical facts. The Demand Letter is helpful when it comes to convincing the defendant’s insurance company to settle the case. If the Demand Letter is effective enough with all the medical data clearly presented, it will help avoid costly litigation.

How Is a Demand letter Useful for PI Attorneys?

• The Demand Letter kickstarts the settlement negotiations.
• Its contents enable the other side to understand that the plaintiff is serious about pursuing the case, and expects a fair settlement.
• Demand Letter preparation with the support of a medical review company makes it simple and efficient to organize the case.
• A well-drafted Demand Letter helps the attorney present the facts in the most appropriate manner.

 The Main Components of a Demand Letter

A Demand Letter prepared with the support of a company that provides medical chart reviews will include the following important sections.

• A concise summary of the event/accident with photos that are available
• Details of the injury(ies) sustained
• The impact of the injury and the disability caused due to it
• Medical bills and expenses incurred
• A list of the ICD codes contained in the medical records
• Future medical expenses that the plaintiff may incur
• Details regarding losses sustained – income lost with appropriate supporting documentation
• The compensation demanded for the damages sustained

Four things are most important in a Demand Letter. These are:

1. The important facts: These include information such as who are the parties involved; what is the actual incident, when and where it occurred.
2. The injuries involved and the damages: The Demand Letter should list all the injuries sustained, and the damages caused by the injuries. The injuries include both physical and emotional injuries sustained. The damages can be economic and non-economic. Quantifiable damages such as medical bills and lost wages come under economic damages whereas non-economic damages are those that are difficult to assign a dollar amount to, such as pain, suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life.
3. Why the other party is responsible: This involves establishing why the other party is legally responsible for the injuries and damages sustained by the plaintiff. The plaintiff side has to show that the other party was negligent and did not act as carefully as a reasonable person would have under similar circumstances, and that negligence resulted in injuries and damages to the plaintiff.
4. Damages and settlement demand: Here the damages are totaled and that total amount is demanded to settle the case. Ideally, a deadline should be included within which the opposite party has to act. There may be a statute of limitations applicable; typically, the other party gets 30 days to respond to a Demand Letter.

Benefits of Outsourcing to a Medical Review Company

Demand Letters are prepared by attorneys representing plaintiffs during the personal injury claim. They focus on clearly presenting the basic facts involved in the claim and the demands for the type of compensation. Plaintiffs who are represented by experienced attorneys stand a better chance of winning a settlement from the insurance company. Attorneys can benefit from the services of a medical review company that will provide a skilled and experienced review team to perform a medical record review and extract the relevant medical facts.

• This team includes medical reviewers, medical coders and documentation specialists who can help in reviewing the medical bills and expenses, calculate the expenses incurred, and prepare a list of the ICD codes.
• With dedicated medical review services, it is easier for the attorney to achieve out-of-court settlements, and also reduce law firm costs.

The medical facts in a personal injury case are very important when it comes to drafting a good Demand Letter. If the Demand Letter is effective, the plaintiff is more likely to get a satisfactory result for his/her claim. This brings home the significance of having a professional medical records service provider to review the medical aspects of the case. In addition, law firms and attorneys need not invest significant resources on hiring and training medical record reviewers, and overhead costs. Other advantages of outsourcing are cost savings, speedy turnaround time, and improved quality of demand letters.