blog home Personal Injury Insurance Demand Letter Response Time

Insurance Demand Letter Response Time

By Butler Prather LLP on March 15, 2022

In the event you sustain an injury caused by another party, it is very likely that your case will be resolved through a settlement with an insurance carrier. However, insurance carriers are notoriously difficult to deal with. These claims often begin with sending a demand letter to the insurance carrier and asking for payment of all medical bills, property damage expenses, lost wages, and other damages. Here, we want to discuss how long it may take the insurance carrier to respond to a demand letter sent by you or your attorney.

What is a Demand Letter?

When a person sustains an injury, and if they are entitled to compensation from another party, it is very likely that they will need to send a demand letter to an insurance carrier. Also referred to as a “letter of demand,” this is a formal letter letting the insurance carrier know that there is a legal claim being made for compensation.

Included in a demand letter will be a statement of the facts of the case, a listing of the expenses that the injury victim has experienced, a dollar amount that the injury victim is requesting from the insurance carrier, and a date by which a response is expected.

How Long Will a Response Take?

After you have written a demand letter and sent it to the insurance carrier, the response time can vary. Usually, individuals will hear back from the insurance carrier within a few weeks, but that is not always the case. Please understand that insurance carriers are not going to be excited to pay your claim. These are for-profit companies that want to do everything they can to limit how much money they hand out in the settlement. This means making it difficult to receive the compensation in the first place.

For very straightforward claims where the fault of the policyholder is relatively clear, the insurance carrier may respond within a few weeks and meet the demand. However, what is more likely to happen is that the insurance carrier will send back a counteroffer to the demand that you made in the letter. In some circumstances, the insurance carrier may let you know that they have denied the claim altogether.

Work With a Personal Injury Lawyer

If you or somebody you love has been injured due to the actions of another individual, business, or entity in Georgia, you need to reach out to an attorney as soon as possible. Because demand letters are supposed to be more formal, we strongly recommend that you let an attorney craft the demand letter on your behalf. Yes, you will have input, but an attorney who has written these letters before will be better prepared to draft the demand letter and handle any response the insurance carrier returns.

Additionally, when you have an Atlanta personal injury attorney draft your demand letter on official stationery and with their signature, this sends a signal to the insurance carrier that you mean business. Insurance carriers do not like dealing with attorneys; they would much rather deal with the injury victim directly because they think they will be more apt to accept a lower offer. When you work with an attorney, your chances of having the demand letter accepted increase.

Posted in: Personal Injury


I was in a complex premises liability case involving a multinational corporations. Mr. Butler & his associates were always three steps ahead of these defendants. When they say they are "exceptional trial lawyers," this is not just a slogan but it is a way of life.”
- Zack Hendon