Demand letters basically describe the collision, injuries, treatment, impact and conclude with a demand of a certain dollar amount to settle a personal injury claim.

I’m getting more and more demand letters from clients.

Some are demand letters that have already been sent to the other side. Others have been drafted but not sent. Most are generated by ChatGPT.

I’m admittedly a little bit fussy. If something sounds like it’s AI generated, I typically stop reading. And assume that insurance adjusters and claim representatives operate the same way.

But in fairness, the content of the ChatGPT demands is pretty good.

So that begs the question: Why should anyone agree to pay an attorney to handle their case when ChatGPT can generate a pretty good demand? Isn’t this a DIY project waiting to happen?

There’s only one thing…it’s not just the content of the demand, it’s who stands behind it.

Beneath the text of every demand is an implied threat. That threat is that if you don’t agree to pay a fair amount, you’re going to get sued and there’s going to be a trial to determine what’s owed.

When someone smart and capable, but who isn’t a personal injury trial attorney, sends a demand it may sound good, but it’s not going to have an impact on the insurance company (even if it’s read). That’s because the implied threat is a paper tiger. The injured person isn’t an attorney and ChatGPT isn’t going to file suit, litigate and try the case.

When insurance companies receive demands with no steel behind them they are going to make low-ball offers. They know that most of those offers are going to be accepted. And if the first offer isn’t accepted, the second will be accepted.

There are all sorts of great uses for ChatGPT. I love it as a learning tool and thought partner. But it’s not a cost-effective DIY tool for resolving personal injury claims.

Even though ChatGPT is free (or essentially free), using it instead of an attorney with a proven track record (that’s known to the insurance industry) is going to cost you so much more than you would have spent in attorney fees.