Anderson Injury Lawyers | July 8, 2025 | Personal Injury
A demand letter is one of your most powerful tools for securing fair compensation after an injury. When someone else’s negligence causes you harm, their insurance company often delays making offers, hoping you’ll accept less or simply give up.
Writing an effective demand letter puts you in control of negotiations. It formally outlines your injuries, damages (like lost wages and medical bills), and settlement terms while demonstrating you’re serious about pursuing compensation. Rather than waiting months for an inadequate offer, a strong demand letter can jumpstart negotiations and help secure the settlement you deserve.
Steps to Take Before Writing a Demand Letter
Before you prepare a demand letter for a personal injury claim, you need to complete several important steps that include:
Complete Medical Treatment
Your medical bills and other expenses are included in your personal injury claim. However, you cannot be sure of the total of your economic damages until you complete medical treatment. Furthermore, if you sustain permanent impairments or disabilities, your settlement demand may include future damages.
Remember that the Texas statute of limitations restricts the time to file personal injury lawsuits. If your recovery takes months, you should consult an attorney as soon as possible to protect your right to file a lawsuit if necessary.
Document Damages
You will need documentation of your damages, which typically fall into two categories:
- Economic damages include loss of income, medical bills, out-of-pocket expenses, personal care, and other monetary losses
- Non-economic damages, or “pain and suffering damages,” include emotional distress, mental anguish, and physical pain. It also includes diminished quality of life and loss of enjoyment of life.
Keep copies of all bills, invoices, receipts, and other evidence of expenses. You also need proof of the income you lost if you were out of work. You may need a statement from your employer verifying your income and the number of days or pay periods you missed.
Calculate the Value of Your Damages
Economic damages equal the actual payments and financial losses incurred because of the accident. However, if you incur a lifelong disability, you may have damages for ongoing medical treatment, long-term nursing/personal care, and decreased earning capacity that might not be apparent initially.
Calculating future damages can be challenging. You may need the assistance of experts, including medical specialists, financial professionals, and vocational experts.
Non-economic damages are subjective. Every person suffers differently. Your medical records can prove the type and extent of your injuries, but you need to explain how those injuries cause you to suffer physically and emotionally. The value of pain and suffering is usually a multiple of your financial damages, generally 1.5 to 5 times the value of economic damages.
What Do I Include in a Demand Letter for a Dallas Personal Injury Claim?
Each personal injury case is unique, so demand letters must be customized for the specific circumstances of your case.
However, standard elements of a demand letter typically include:
- Description of the accident. The descriptions should be brief. Be careful not to make a statement that could be misinterpreted as accepting some of the blame for the accident.
- Explanation of the other person’s fault. For instance, a property owner failed to clean up a spill that caused you to fall, or another driver turned left in front of you when you had the right of way.
- Legal basis for liability. Proving negligence requires establishing a duty of care, breach of duty, causation, and damages. For example, a driver had a duty to follow traffic laws and breached the duty when they failed to yield the right of way. That breach of duty caused your accident, resulting in injuries and damages.
- Description of injuries. Include a description of your injuries, including whether you sustained a permanent impairment.
- List of economic and non-economic damages. Include all financial losses, pain, and suffering from the accident, injuries, and recovery.
- Demand for compensation. The total amount of all damages that must be paid for you to agree to a settlement.
You should also include a deadline for the insurance company to reply to your demand letter (i.e., 30 days). The insurance company will expect to receive documentation and evidence to support your settlement demand. Demand letters should be concise and professional in tone. You should be firm but not overly aggressive or confrontational.
Contact Our Dallas Personal Injury Lawyers to Help You Write a Settlement Demand Letter
Our Dallas personal injury lawyers at Anderson Injury Lawyers have extensive experience writing demand letters. Their knowledge of the law, methods for calculating damages, access to expert witnesses, and negotiating skills can increase your chances of receiving a fair settlement.
Consider scheduling a consultation with an attorney before settling your claim.
If you’ve been injured in an accident in Fort Worth or Dallas and need legal help, contact our personal injury lawyers at Anderson Injury Lawyers to schedule a free consultation. We proudly serve Tarrant County, Dallas County, and throughout Texas.
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