The following sentences are missing commas. See if you can put them in their proper places and ask yourself to supply the rule or reason for your decision. Mr. Polk signed a second agreement on November 2, 2017 which restored …
Clichés are trite written or verbal expressions that are used over and over, eventually wearing themselves out and communicating very little. At first, a phrase is coined and gains popularity (e.g., “Enclosed please find,” “do not hesitate to call,” “point …
Microsoft Word allows you to comment on another person’s document. I find it helpful to point out mistakes or comment on the structure and phraseology of some of the claims letters I am shown during a webinar or seminar. The …
Redundancy is a type of wordy phrase in which, usually, one word is giving the message and the other word is, in a different way, repeating the message. In the phrase “VIN Number,” the term “VIN” already means Vehicle Identification …
One of the most cumbersome aspects of a denial letter is the often-abrupt transition from letter to legalistic policy language to establish what the policy says regarding a particular type of incident. Claims people refer claimants to the policy in …
Today, the Claims Writing Coach is taking a brief reader survey to found out the most embarrassing or costly writing errors you see throughout your department or company. Once I have your answers, I can then focus my column more …
Old-fashioned words and phrases clutter up claims letters, detract from a professional image and do not belong in your templates or free-form missives. I’ll list a few of these phrases and comment on each. You’re invited to disagree and to …
While it is proper to admit not being sure of a fact, some claims people get carried away with the use of “weasel words,” sprinkling them liberally throughout letters to claimants, attorneys, physicians and commissioners. As I review writing samples …
After the comma, the second most difficult punctuation mark to master is the apostrophe. Apostrophes are troublesome because there is no universal agreement about the rule that states that single nouns, including those ending in “s”, add ” ‘s.” There …
Like their brethren in property/casualty and life/health, workers’ compensation claims professionals write a lot. They write to physicians, lawyers, claimants, employers and many others. Like so many others in the world of claims, many workers’ comp people mistakenly think that …