Taking Charge: How To Write An Effective Bad Faith Demand Letter To Your Insurer
When you have upheld your end of the insurance contract and paid your monthly premiums on time, it’s only right that you would expect your insurer to uphold theirs. Insurance companies have the legal duty to assist you with a claim and pay out the correct amount of damages.
Unfortunately, many insurers put profits before people and unrightfully deny a claim or attempt to underpay it. These types of behaviors are known as bad faith practices, and they can greatly affect your ability to recover any damages after filing an insurance claim.
But you do NOT have to accept this type of illegal behavior. One way to address the situation before filing a lawsuit – and one often required by the courts – is to submit a formal demand letter. A formal demand letter is written to the insurer in an attempt to correct any issues.
These letters can be written on behalf of a person, group, or family insured under any number of different types of insurance contracts including health, property, vehicle, homeowner, disability, flood, and other contracts. They summarize your claim and notify the company of how much compensation you seek for your injuries or any other damages you may have suffered.
If you have been struggling with your insurer acting in bad faith, trust in the dependable, aggressive, and honest insurance claim lawyers of Millin & Millin to help you obtain the results you deserve.
Please consider the following information regarding how to write a bad faith demand letter and how it can help you in your situation.
How Writing a Demand Letter Can Help
Writing a clear and effective letter demanding payment for an insurance claim can help you in a number of ways including:
- A demand letter can help to initiate the settlement process. While phone calls to your insurance agent may not readily move the company into action, a bad faith demand letter can have a serious effect, forcing them to take your dispute seriously.
- Helps you organize your claim for any future lawsuits. An effectively written letter will highlight the facts of the situation, the laws surrounding your case, and provide evidence of why you deserve your claim to be handled correctly. Should the need for legal action arise, your demand letter will help you prepare and set you on the right path.
Please note that if you are writing a demand letter as a result of a health insurance or personal injury claim, you should wait until treatment is nearly complete so that you can accurately account for all costs associated with the medical care you received.
Preparing Your Demand Letter
When creating your demand letter, you need to approach the situation in a professional manner and look at all the key factors. You’ll want to cover several different “topics” and provide sufficient details including:
- All the facts clearly laid out regarding the claim.
- A portion detailing why the insurance company is liable.
- A list of injuries or damages suffered.
- Total amount of out-of-pocket expenses.
- Supporting documents (e.g. medical bills, letters from employers, home damage estimates done by a public adjuster, etc.)
- The amount of compensation you expect.
As you create the letter, it is important to maintain a respectful but straightforward tone. You will also want to type the letter out, make sure that it is free from errors, and is easy to understand. Don’t forget to make yourself a few additional copies for any future purposes.
When sending the demand letter, it is best to do so via certified mail so as to negate an insurer that claims they never received the letter.
Again, it is vital that you always maintain a polite – but firm – style.
Your bad faith insurance lawyers at Millin & Millin understand that taking such a serious approach can be a challenge. It can be downright intimidating trying to handle a serious situation with a large corporation alone.
But it doesn’t have to be.
If you are worried about sending a demand letter because of legal and financial reasons, then please contact our experienced lawyers today. We can help you through the process and provide additional insight, as well as quality legal support, should your claim require action.