Civil Assault and Battery Injury Claim - Sample Demand Letter

Civil Assault and Battery - Sample Demand Letter

Francis Hibberts
9196 Woodfin Ave.
Austin, TX 78653
[email protected]

December 14, 20xx

Ms. Roberta Gullins
South Buy Insurance
P.O. Box 2944
Austin, TX 78702

Re: Your insured: Sixth Street Tavern
Date of injury: March 12, 20xx
Your file number: 44577H78990 [NOTE: Always use the insurer's file number on all correspondence with the insurer]

Dear Ms. Gullins:

I have finished receiving medical treatment in connection with my injuries, so I'm enclosing all of my medical records and bills related to this matter. [NOTE: You always want to make sure that the insurance adjuster has all of your medical records and bills when you make a demand.]

As you know, I was in Sixth St. Tavern in Austin on March 12, when a customer at your insured's establishment assaulted me. [NOTE: Insurance almost never covers intentional acts committed by a policyholder, so Francis wouldn't have a claim against any insurance policy held by the customer who assaulted him; but here Francis is making a claim under the liability insurance of the tavern in which the assault occurred, under the legal theories he'll lay out in the next two paragraphs.] The customer, Frank Haskins, hit me in the face out of nowhere, while I was walking to the restroom. I had no idea who he was. He and I had never spoken or interacted in any way. I had no chance to defend myself.

Immediately after Mr. Haskins hit me, several bar patrons grabbed him and held him until the police arrived. Several of these patrons let me know that Mr. Haskins had been obviously intoxicated for at least the preceding two hours, and had tried to start a number of fights. These patrons had asked two bartenders to stop serving Mr. Haskins, and had informed the bouncer at the door that Mr. Haskins should be asked to leave. They even offered to pay for his Uber home. Despite all of this, and in the face of the clear danger that Mr. Haskins posed to himself and to others, the bartenders kept serving Mr. Haskins, and the bouncer refused to even speak with him.

Mr. Haskins ultimately pled guilty to simple assault. He testified that he was drunk and had no memory of what happened. Based on these facts, and under both Texas's dram shop laws and the concept of negligence (namely, Sixth Street Tavern's failure to provide adequate security to its customers), there can be no question but that Sixth St. Tavern and its employees are liable for my injuries. I was assaulted by an obviously intoxicated customer who represented a clear danger to me and other customers. Multiple staff members at Sixth Street Tavern were notified of the danger, and did nothing. In fact, they continued serving my eventual attacker. [NOTE: You want to explain all of the significant facts and then conclude with a statement that the insured is liable. If liability is relatively obvious, you don't need to get into too much detail.]

The assault by Mr. Haskins broke my left cheekbone and one tooth on my left side. I was taken to the emergency room, where they gave me pain medication and a referral to a facial surgeon. I also had to see my dentist.

I saw the facial surgeon, Dr. Johnson, two days later. He sent me for x-rays and decided that the damage to my cheekbone would probably heal on its own. I followed up with him several times over the next few months and it ultimately healed. My dentist referred me to an oral surgeon, who had to extract the broken tooth and replace it with an implant. As you can imagine, this was all quite painful. I had to avoid touching the left side of my face for weeks. If I rolled over onto my left side while sleeping, I woke up immediately. I was on prescription pain medication for weeks. [NOTE: Summarize your medical treatment. You don't need to give all of the details, just describe the main points. You also want to explain clearly and concisely your injuries and your pain and suffering. Don't exaggerate. Just explain what your injuries were and how they affected your life.]

My medical and dental bills total $14,000.00. I paid $1,000 in co-pays toward the medical bills. My health insurance paid the remainder of the medical bills, but they have already claimed a lien on any injury settlement that I may get.[NOTE: If you have to repay your health insurance (and you almost always have to), make sure that you tell the adjuster.] I have no dental insurance, and so had to pay all of the dental bills myself.

My medical and dental bills were as follows:

• Dr. Johnson (facial surgeon) 2,000.00
• Austin EMS Ambulance 1,500.00
• Austin Memorial Hospital 2,000.00
• East Austin Radiology 1,200.00
• Dr. Knight (dentist) 1,800.00
• Dr. Ronson (dental surgeon) 5,500.00
• TOTAL $14,000.00 [NOTE: You always want to put together a little chart listing your medical bills. Don't make the adjuster read through them to figure out the details.]

I am a plumber for East Austin Plumbing. I earn $2,100 per week and missed one week of work. I have attached a letter from Dr. Johnson saying that I needed to stay out of work for that period of time. Accordingly, my lost earnings claim is $2,100. [NOTE: State your lost earnings claim briefly and clearly. Make sure you have a doctor's note saying you needed to be out of work for the entirety of the time you missed. Without a doctor's note explicitly stating that you needed to stay out of work, the insurer is probably not going to consider your lost earnings claim.]

Taking into account your insured's absolute liability and outrageous behavior in this case, I demand $80,000.00 to settle this case. Please advise me of your thoughts on this matter within the next 14 days.

Thank you.

Very truly yours,

Francis Hibberts