In Lester v. Sayles, 850 S.W.2d 858, 873 (Mo. banc 1993) the Court rejected the defendants' argument that section 408.040 failed to "clearly express whether the statute may be triggered by a demand made before the filing of the lawsuit or only by demand made after the filing." This Court wrote: "In our view, there is no ambiguity. The statute, by its plain language, requires no more than plaintiff make a 'demand for payment of a claim or an offer of settlement.' By placing no limitation on when the plaintiff may make this offer, the legislature has answered the question." Id.