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Indiana Demand Letter

This letter builds in Indiana's Deceptive Consumer Sales Act notice-and-cure requirement, its certified-mail bad-check demand statute, and its demand-triggered interest rule for accounts.

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What is this demand about?

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Introduction

Indiana's Deceptive Consumer Sales Act makes written pre-suit notice a precondition, unless the deceptive act is incurable, to a damages claim by a consumer who bought or leased goods, services, or an intangible for personal, familial, charitable, agricultural, or household purposes: Indiana Code Section 24-5-0.5-5(a) requires that consumer to give the supplier written notice, stating fully the deceptive act and the actual damage suffered, within the soonest of six months after discovering the act, one year after the transaction, or any shorter warranty period of at least thirty days. That notice does more than start a clock. If the supplier responds within thirty days with a written offer to cure that includes the statutory minimum extra payment for attorney's fees and costs, the greater of ten percent of the remedy's value capped at four thousand dollars or five hundred dollars, and the offer is accepted and performed, the deceptive act never becomes an uncured deceptive act, which bars the consumer's damages claim under Section 24-5-0.5-4(a) entirely. The Indiana attorney general's separate injunctive action under Section 24-5-0.5-4(c) also needs no such notice. Separately, if this demand concerns a dishonored check, Indiana Code Section 26-2-7-6(b) requires a written demand sent by certified mail, and the recipient has thirty days from that mailing to pay before a tiered civil penalty attaches, with a shorter ten day window that can eliminate liability altogether. If your claim is for a security deposit or a final paycheck, use DocDraft's security deposit demand letter or final paycheck demand letter pages instead, which are built around those specific statutes. This page builds an ordinary demand letter into Indiana law, with attorney review available before you send it.

Key Things to Know

  1. 1

    Indiana's Deceptive Consumer Sales Act makes written pre-suit notice a precondition, unless the deceptive act is incurable, to a damages claim by a consumer who bought or leased goods, services, or an intangible for personal, familial, charitable, agricultural, or household purposes (Indiana Code Section 24-5-0.5-2(a)(1)). If the supplier responds to your notice within 30 days with a written offer to cure that includes the statutory minimum extra payment, and the offer is accepted and performed, your damages claim under Section 24-5-0.5-4(a) is barred entirely (Section 24-5-0.5-5(a); Section 24-5-0.5-2(a)(6)-(7)).

  2. 2

    That DCSA notice must be given within the soonest of six months after you discover the deceptive act, one year after the transaction, or any shorter warranty period of at least 30 days (Indiana Code Section 24-5-0.5-5(a)). The statute requires only that the notice be in writing and state fully the deceptive act and your actual damage; it does not itself require certified mail or any other specific delivery method.

  3. 3

    If your claim involves a dishonored check, Indiana Code Section 26-2-7-6(b) requires a written demand sent by certified mail. A check of $250 or less that is not paid within 30 days of that mailing lets you recover three times the face amount; a larger check lets you recover the face amount plus $500. Paying the full amount within 10 days of the notice eliminates liability under this chapter entirely (Section 26-2-7-8).

  4. 4

    Never threaten arrest, jail, or criminal prosecution to collect a civil debt in an Indiana demand letter. Separately, Indiana Code Section 24-5-0.5-3(b)(20) makes a debt collector's violation of the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act itself an actionable deceptive act under the DCSA, though this reaches a third-party debt collector, not a creditor collecting its own debt in its own name.

  5. 5

    A written demand that itemizes an account and demands payment starts Indiana's legal interest running at 8 percent per year on an account stated, an account closed, or money held for another's use and retained without the other's consent, under Indiana Code Section 24-4.6-1-103(b).

  6. 6

    Indiana's Small Claims Docket, part of the county circuit or superior court (the Marion County Small Claims Courts in Marion County), hears civil claims up to $10,000, exclusive of interest and attorney's fees, and unlike some states, Indiana allows a party to appear by attorney (Indiana Code Sections 33-28-3-4(b)(1), 33-28-3-5(b)).

  7. 7

    Mind Indiana's statute of limitations: six years to sue on a written contract for the payment of money or on an oral contract or open account not in writing (Indiana Code Sections 34-11-2-9(b), 34-11-2-7(1)), and two years to sue for injury to personal property (Section 34-11-2-4(a)(2)).

Key decisions before you file

Before you file a Demand Letter in Indiana, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Demand Letter guide walks through them.

Open the Demand Letter guide

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Indiana Requirements for Demand Letter

  • DCSA Presuit Notice and Cure Bar

    Indiana Code Section 24-5-0.5-5(a) requires a consumer who bought or leased goods, services, or an intangible for personal, familial, charitable, agricultural, or household purposes to give the supplier written notice before suing for damages, unless the deceptive act is incurable. A timely written offer to cure that includes the statutory minimum extra payment bars the claim entirely (Section 24-5-0.5-2(a)(6)-(7)).

  • DCSA Notice Deadline and No Mandated Delivery Method

    The DCSA notice must be given within the soonest of six months after discovering the deceptive act, one year after the transaction, or any shorter warranty period of at least 30 days (Indiana Code Section 24-5-0.5-5(a)). The statute requires only that the notice be in writing; it does not itself require certified mail or any other specific delivery method.

  • DCSA Damages and Willful Enhancement

    Indiana Code Section 24-5-0.5-4(a) allows actual damages or $500, whichever is greater, for an uncured or incurable deceptive act. For a willful deceptive act the court may increase damages up to the greater of three times actual damages or $1,000, and Section 24-5-0.5-4(i) allows a senior consumer age 60 or older to recover treble damages if appropriate.

  • No Texas-Style Attorney's-Fee Presentment

    Indiana has no statute conditioning attorney's-fee recovery on presenting a claim before suit for a contract, account, or services claim. Indiana Code Section 34-52-1-1 shifts fees only where a claim or defense was frivolous, unreasonable, groundless, or pursued in bad faith, so outside a specific statute or a contract's own fee clause, each side generally pays its own attorney.

  • Bad-Check Certified-Mail Demand and Tiered Penalty

    Indiana Code Section 26-2-7-6(b) requires a written demand sent by certified mail before the tiered civil penalty applies: three times the face amount for a check of $250 or less, or the face amount plus $500 for a larger check, if unpaid 30 days after the mailing. Section 26-2-7-8 bars liability under the chapter entirely if the full amount is paid within 10 days of the notice, and Section 26-2-7-7 requires electing this remedy instead of Indiana's separate crime-victims damages statute.

  • Demand-Triggered 8 Percent Interest for Accounts

    Indiana Code Section 24-4.6-1-103(b) sets interest at 8 percent per year on an account stated, an account closed, or money had and received for another's use and retained without consent, running from the date an itemized bill is rendered and payment is demanded.

  • Small Claims Venue and $10,000 Limit

    Indiana's Small Claims Docket, part of the county circuit or superior court, or the Marion County Small Claims Courts in Marion County, hears civil actions up to $10,000, exclusive of interest and attorney's fees (Indiana Code Sections 33-28-3-4(b)(1), 33-34-3-2). A party may appear personally or by attorney (Section 33-28-3-5(b)).

  • Statute of Limitations by Claim Type

    Indiana gives six years to sue on a written contract for the payment of money (Indiana Code Section 34-11-2-9(b)) and six years on an oral contract or open account not in writing (Section 34-11-2-7(1)), and two years to sue for injury to personal property (Section 34-11-2-4(a)(2)).

  • FDCPA Incorporated Into DCSA for Debt Collectors

    Indiana Code Section 24-5-0.5-3(b)(20) makes a debt collector's violation of the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act an actionable deceptive act under the DCSA, reaching a third-party debt collector rather than a creditor collecting its own debt in its own name. A knowing violation also draws an attorney general penalty of up to $1,000 per consumer (Section 24-5-0.5-4(l)).

Frequently Asked Questions