How to Format a Claims Letter

By Gary Blake | June 30, 2017

How do you format a claims letter? Insurance companies seem to be in search of a reliable, reasonable format that will help their letters achieve a consistent, easy-to-read “look.”

The following are some tips on gaining consistency in a business letter:

Letterhead

Style: Full block –everything aligns left margin
Justification: Left, ragged right (not block justified)
Font: Times New Roman 12pt (scalable) for letters and memos
Times New Roman, 10pt (scalable) for agendas and minutes
Spacing: 1.0
Margins: Left 1.6″; right 1″; top 2″;bottom 1″
Signature: “Sincerely” as closing, title spelled out and four spaces for the signature. Use blue or black ink to sign name. Do not use “Truly yours” as a closing. An actual signature is always preferable to a stamp.

Envelopes

  • The address should be in all capital letters with no punctuation.
  • Left-justify every line in the address block.
  • Use two letter state abbreviations in caps (e.g., CA, NY, HI, MN).
  • Use one space between city and state, two spaces between state and zip code.
  • The address portion should be centered halfway down the envelope and a half-inch less than half-way across.

Example:

Letterhead Envelope
Ron Smith, M.D. RON SMITH MD
Locke Clinics Inc. LOCKE CLINICS INC
233 East Derby Street
Chicago, IL 60654
233 EAST DERBY STREET
CHICAGO IL 60611

NOTE:
If a window envelope is used, the same rules as apply above. Be sure that only the full address is visible through the window portion of the envelope. Plain white paper

Style: Full block –everything aligns on the left margin
Justification: Left, ragged right (not block justified)
Font: Times New Roman, 10pt (scalable)
Margins: Left 1″; right 1″; top 1″;bottom 1″

Below are two examples of how to format a letter.

image of Gary Blake

About Gary Blake

Gary Blake is director of The Communication Workshop, offering claims writing webinars and seminars to claims professionals throughout the US, Bermuda, Canada, and the UK. Blake is the author of The Elements of Business Writing (Pearson Education), used at more than 100 insurance companies. He has written about claims writing for a number of industry publications. His e-mail is garyblake725@gmail.com. More from Gary Blake

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