Today’s blog post is a guest article form the people at the Injury Settlement Guide.

Your settlement letter is incredibly important, and getting it right the first time is vital. Settlement letters are what officially begin the process of working towards a settlement to your personal injury claim, so you need to make sure that you do things right.

There are several primary things that need to be listed in settlement letters: 1) your damages 2) a request for compensation for the aforementioned damages and 3) a discussion of the liability of the insurance company’s client. However, you need to do more than simply enumerate your damages and list what you’ll be willing accept in compensation for those damages. You need to be very clear about several things in settlement letters, including what makes you qualified to place these claims, why you’re laying fault at the insurance company client’s feet, exactly what injuries you sustained and exactly how much the damages are.

All of this sounds very simple, but it can be easy to get them wrong, as well. You will also find that while settlement letters are responsible for starting the process, they’re almost never the end of the story. It might seem like the insurance company would simply accept what you state and pay your claims, but it doesn’t always work that way. Remember that the insurance company is going to try to limit the amount of money they pay out to the lowest possible amount.

When writing settlement letters, you also need to understand that the letter will be used as a reference tool throughout the process. The insurance company will base all of their decisions on the contents of that letter. That means you need to ensure that the letter enumerates all of your compensation requirements or you will find that the amount you receive might be less than what you need. Make sure you list medical bill costs, as well as time lost from work due to your injuries in the letter.

Finally, you need to make sure that you structure the letter correctly. It needs to focus solely on the strengths of your case – the insurance company will already take into account any case weaknesses and those will be present in their counteroffer.

If all of this sounds rather complex, it certainly can be. Working with a skilled attorney at your side is the best way to ensure that settlement letters are structured correctly and that they clearly present all of your claims.