Q: I have a question about personal injury and process for demanding a settlement from a landlord/the landlord's insurer.
My daughter was injured in her apartment when a glass and metal shower door that was incorrectly or incompletely attached fell on her and gave her a concussion. She had put in a repair request which had not been addressed. She incurred about $1000 in medical bills, some lost wages, and the injury caused major setbacks in her semester as a college senior. I think requesting a settlement of around $5000 is reasonable in this case, but this number is too low for it to make sense to have a lawyer. I have researched her situation and think I understand how to write the demand letter. But, the demand letter examples I see are all addressed to the insurance company and I do not know who the landlord's insurer is. Do we send the demand letter to the landlord in this case? Thank you.
A:
I'm sorry to hear about your daughter's injury. To answer your main question, if you have not had contact with the landlord's insurance carrier, it sounds like the landlord is trying to resolve the case without getting the insurance carrier involved. You can probably address your demand to the landlord directly in that case. That said, your daughter should strongly consider getting a free case evaluation from a personal injury attorney. Even if it's a case that may not make sense for an attorney to take on, an attorney can provide you a case valuation based on our experience and determine if you have it valued correctly. Sometimes just having an attorney involved can add some value.
I hope my answer helps. Best wishes to you and your daughter.
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