Letter of Claim

A letter of claim (sometimes known as a letter before action) is a letter asserting wrongdoing of some kind by the recipient. It is most commonly used as the first step in the legal process of a personal injury claim. For example if you slipped on an unmarked wet floor in a restaurant, you or your lawyer may write a letter briefly outlining the facts as you see them, noting that you will be officially perusing a claim against them.

 

Letters of claim are also often used to notify someone of incomplete or unsatisfactory work on a specific project, or more formally a breach of contract. For example, if you hired someone to decorate your office, but they never finished the job or did not complete it to your specifications, you would write them a letter of claim stating you grievances and possible reparations. Like an injury claim this is the first step before proper legal action is taken.

 

Letters of claim may also be written for alleged copyright infringement and many other scenarios.

Steps

Starting to Write

1

Tell the truth – false claims not only waste everybody’s time and in some cases money, but if taken to court may carry penalties under the law.

2

Be specific about you claim. “I fell over in your shop” is not going to warrant a response. Also Include any supporting evidence to back you up, such as the original contract between you and a workman agreeing to certain conditions that were not met.

3

Be firm but courteous – Although somebody may not have done their job correctly, it may have been a genuine mistake rather than out of laziness or malice.

4

Sign your letter to attest to its truthfulness.

Sample Letters

Letter of Claim for Breach of Contract Sample


John T. Tirado
1439 Agriculture Lane
Homestead, FL 33030

 

Dear John,
It has come to our attention that you have not completed the interior design job that you were hired for on November 4th, 2009 to the agreed upon specifications. You failed to install the shelving system correctly, and you didn’t even start installing the carpet.

 

We are deeply disappointed that you could not hold up your end of the contract we signed.

 

We hope that you can either a) return and finish the job to the specifications laid out in our contract or b) pay out the damages for non completion included in section 7. b) of the contract we signed.

 

Please respond as soon as possible with the action you are going to take to remedy this situation.

 

Sincerely,
David Gretta

Letter of Claim for Injury Sample


I, Margaret McCormick, am writing to make a formal notification that I am perusing a personal injury and loss claim against Easy Coach Corp for a road incident that took place on June 05, 2009, at approximately 9:32am.

 

One of your public coaches I was riding (License Plate: B444 W9R) partially ran a red light along Monk’s Lane, Manchester, and then slammed on the breaks causing me to fall forward off my seat and go shoulder first in to the seat in front of me.

 

Doctors have diagnosed me with a badly sprained shoulder, which has taken me out of work unloading stock at Henley’s Supermarket in Moorgate, Manchester.

 

You have three months in which to respond to this letter to inform me of your course of action. A solicitor has been duly noted.

 

Without prejudice,
Signed
Mrs. Margaret McCormick

Letter of Claim for Copyright Infringement Sample


Dear Sir/Madam,
I am the copyright owner of the musical track “Summer’s Breeze Tonight”, which I believe you are using illegally.

 

As the creator and owner of this track I have several rights under the law, including the exclusive right to reproduce the work and publish it online, meaning I am the only one allowed to share it on the internet.

I believe that you are infringing on my rights by including this track in full, as the background music to a video on the following webpage: www.myawesomevideos.com/summerrap.htm

 

I so not recall having any correspondence with you about licensing this track for your creative works.

 

To rectify this problem I suggest you either a) Remove the webpage noted above, or b) Edit the video to include a different track.

 

Failure to do so within a reasonable timeframe will leave me with no other choice but to proceed with legal action.

 

Sincerely,
Adrianna Young
Signed