25 Deadliest Insurance Words, Phrases Cited

Take a look at the next four or five letters, e-mails and memos that cross your desk. Do they sing out with clarity and precision? Or do they sound as if they were written by a lawyer in a Charles Dickens novel? Worse yet: do they sound like they were written by a lawyer in your own company or agency? Don’t get me wrong; lawyers are there to protect you. But you are there to deal with the customer, and part of that means writing in such a way that you come across as human, caring, up-to-date and personal. As someone who teaches on-site seminars in “Effective Business Writing for Insurance Professionals,” I read hundreds of denial letters as well as letters to physicians, opposing attorneys, insurance commissioners and a variety of claimants and vendors. Rarely do I see a letter that completely avoids what I call the “25 deadliest” words and phrases commonly found in insurance writing.