See our sample demand for insurance compensation after an injury caused by a slip and fall in a bar. Get valuable tips for writing your settlement demand.
When you’re injured in a bar or nightclub, you have the right to seek compensation when the bar’s staff or owners are at fault.
Slip and fall injuries are most common, but the bar might also be liable for injuries caused by broken glass, rickety furniture, bar fights, food poisoning, and more.
Every personal injury claim is different. Serious injury claims should be handled by a personal injury attorney to maximize compensation.
You can probably handle relatively minor injury claims directly with the bar’s insurance company if you’re willing to learn about the injury claims process.
For most insurance claims, the negotiations phase gets underway when you send a compensation demand letter to the adjuster assigned to your claim.
Learn more about How to Write an Effective Demand for Compensation.
Putting Together Your Demand Packet
Once you’ve recovered from your injuries, you’ll be ready to negotiate a settlement of your insurance claim. Until then, collect copies of the evidence you’ll need to prove your claim, such as:
- Medical records and bills
- Receipts for out-of-pocket expenses
- A lost wages statement
- Witness statements
- Photographs and video
Use your cell phone, or ask your companions, to take pictures of the hazardous condition at the bar. Also, take pictures of your injuries during your recovery.
These days, most bars and nightclubs have security cameras inside and outside the building. There might be footage of spilled drinks or other hazards that caused you to fall, as well as film of your injury as it happened.
Ask the bar owner to “preserve” any camera footage from the date you were injured. They won’t voluntarily give you a copy. However, if you end up filing a lawsuit, your attorney can subpoena the film footage.
Before preparing your demand letter, use your medical bills, out-of-pocket receipts, and the wage statement from your employer to calculate the value of your injury claim.
Make copies of all your evidence to enclose with the demand letter. Keep original documents in your injury claim file.
Write an Impressive Demand Letter
With a little attention to detail, there’s no reason you can’t write a demand letter that looks just as impressive as a letter from an attorney’s office.
- Use the word processor review functions to check grammar and spelling
- Confirm the spelling of names and addresses
- Check your math and make sure the dollar amounts are correct
Print your letter on good quality bond paper, preferably white or cream-colored. You can use regular printer paper to make copies of your bills and other enclosures.
Your demand letter should include:
- Statement of Facts: Provide a detailed description of how you were injured
- Liability: Explain why the bar is directly responsible for your losses
- Injuries: Describe your injuries and how they affected your life
- Damages: A list of everything you can claim for damages
Make a copy of the full demand packet for your files. Send the packet by USPS certified mail. Use an envelope big enough to hold the packet without folding any pages.
Sample Bar Injury Demand Letter
Feel free to use the format of our sample when you write your own demand letter to the insurance company. Our sample letter for compensation is from a fictional injury victim who was hurt by a slip and fall in his local bar.
Click 
for practical hints about writing your demand letter.
Joel Douglas
28 Gott St.
Newark, NJ 07101
November 11, 2020
Classic Insurance Company
101 High Street, Suite 16
New York, NY 10002
Attn: Frank Wilson
Your Insured: Slippery Gulch Bar
Re: Slip and Fall on September 16, 2020
Claim Number: PL1230898
FOR SETTLEMENT PURPOSES ONLY
Dear Mr. Wilson:
As you know, on the evening of September 16, 2020, I was seriously injured by a fall in the Slippery Gulch Bar in Newark, New Jersey.
I violently crashed to the floor after slipping on spilled food and drinks on the floor between tables. I suffered bruises and abrasions to my arms and body, and a painful strain to ligaments around my lumbar spine.
In addition to the pain from my injuries, I suffered the indignity of finding myself flat on my back in a dirty puddle of beer, in front of my date, and everyone else in the tavern. The injuries restricted my activities for almost two weeks. I missed eight days of work.
If not for the negligence of your insured, Slippery Gulch Bar, I would not have suffered my injuries, lost wages, and pain and suffering. I still have painful symptoms that may continue for months to come.
STATEMENT OF FACTS
On September 16, 2020, at about 6:30 p.m., my girlfriend, Susan Gibbs, and I arrived at the Slippery Gulch Bar to have dinner. We ordered appetizers, the dinner special, and a pitcher of beer.
Over the next three and a half hours, I drank three glasses of beer as I enjoyed our dinner. At no time was I intoxicated or unsteady on my feet.
As we were leaving the bar at about 10:00 p.m., I suddenly slipped and violently fell to the hard floor. I immediately felt a sharp pain in my lower back. My girlfriend called the manager over. While waiting for the manager, two other customers, Joe and Mary Smith, helped me to my feet.
Both Joe and Mary said they saw a server spill a tray of drinks in that area just as they were ordering dinner. They said the server picked up the pitcher and glasses, but no one came back to clean up the spilled drinks. They said the tray was spilled at least an hour before I slipped on the puddle and crashed to the floor. Copies of their written statements are enclosed.
There was nothing I could do to avoid falling on the wet mess your client negligently left on the floor. Because the Slippery Gulch Bar staff failed to clean up the spill promptly, I was injured through no fault of my own.
The manager, Joe Humphrey, filled out an incident report and told me he would have the owner’s insurance company contact me.
Susan drove me from the Slippery Gulch Bar directly to Avery Hospital’s emergency room.
INJURIES AND TREATMENT
At the hospital, I was treated by Dr. Robert Noka, who ordered X-rays and an MRI. The MRI showed strains to the ligaments at the L-5 level.
Dr. Noka prescribed Tramadol for pain and Flexeril as a muscle relaxer. He told me to stay off my feet, avoid lifting more than ten pounds, and to follow up with my regular doctor.
The next morning, September 17, 2020, I was unable to get out of bed. My back had seized, and I was in terrible pain. It took several minutes before I was able to stand upright. My girlfriend called into work for me and called my doctor’s office for a same-day appointment.
That afternoon, Susan drove me to see my primary care provider, Dr. Rick Charles. Dr. Charles was able to pull up the X-ray and MRI images and reports from the hospital. He verified the ligament sprains in the lumbar area of my lower back.
Because my job requires heavy lifting, Dr. Charles ordered me to stay off work through the following week. He told me to continue with the muscle relaxers and to use 600mg of ibuprofen four times a day for pain. He encouraged me to rest and use a heating pad off and on, for not more than an hour at a time.
Dr. Charles said I should rest completely for the next week, then gradually increase my activity. If I didn’t see a big improvement after a week, I should come back to see him. Otherwise, he said I could probably go back to work on September 28, 2020.
I followed my doctor’s advice and felt well enough to return to work on September 28, 2020.
WORK HISTORY
I have worked for the UBS Delivery Company for more than four years. During my employment with UBS, I have been promoted twice, from a customer service representative to my present job as a UBS delivery driver.
My job responsibilities include carrying boxes that weigh up to 60 pounds from my delivery truck to the recipient’s home or business. I often have to climb stairs while carrying deliveries for customers.
I’m a reliable worker. Until your negligent insured caused me to miss a week and a half from work, I had an excellent attendance record.
My injuries not only kept me from earning my living, but I was also useless around the house. My friends and relatives came over to fix meals for me, do my laundry, clean my cat’s litter box, and other things I couldn’t do because of pain, limited ability to bend, and restrictions on lifting.
DAMAGES
The following is a list of my medical bills and other costs related to my injuries. Copies of my bills are enclosed, along with a letter from my employer confirming my lost wages.
—
To compensate me for the physical pain, emotional distress, and the financial costs I suffered because of the negligence of your insured, I demand the total amount of $17,544 to resolve my personal injury claim.
Please respond within fifteen (15) business days. I appreciate your prompt attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Joel Douglas
555-679-6589
joeld@example.com
Get Legal Help When You Need It
For most of us, dealing with the insurance adjuster is the toughest part of handling your own injury claim. It’s good to know you can call an attorney if you hit any snags during negotiations.
Adjusters tend to be skeptical about back injuries and other soft-tissue injuries in general. When you’re injured from a slip and fall in a bar, they can be quick to assume you fell because you were drinking.
Sometimes the negotiations process breaks down no matter how much evidence you have to prove the bar was at fault for your injuries. It might be because the adjuster is hard-nosed about pain and suffering. It could be the adjuster is overwhelmed and letting your claim gather dust.
Whatever the reason why your claim isn’t settling, skilled legal help is always available.
You’d be surprised how fast injury claims can settle once an attorney gets involved. The last thing the adjuster wants is an injury lawsuit filed against their insured.
Don’t settle for less. Most injury attorneys don’t charge for their initial consultation. There’s no obligation, and it costs nothing to find out what a good attorney can do for you.
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