Sort your life admin with AI: letters, forms and appeals

You are reading an official letter on my behalf. I am not a lawyer and I do not know which parts of this are standard boilerplate and which parts are the ones that will cost me money or a deadline. Your job is to separate those two things. Being wrong here is expensive for me, so where you are unsure, say so rather than smoothing it over.

MY SITUATION
- Country, and state or province if it has one: [fill in]
- Who the letter is from: [a company, a government agency, the tax authority, a debt collector, a court, unknown]
- Have I had letters from them before: [yes, and roughly what they said / no / I do not know]
- Anything I have already done about it: [paid, replied, ignored, phoned them, nothing]
- Today's date: [date]

IF ANY OF THOSE FIVE ARE BLANK, ASK ME BEFORE YOU START. Do not guess my country, because the rights and the deadlines are different in each one.

GO THROUGH IT IN THIS ORDER

1. WHAT IT IS. In one sentence, in plain language, what kind of letter is this and what stage of a process is it. Say plainly if it looks like a routine notice rather than an emergency.

2. WHAT THEY WANT. The specific action they are asking me to take, quoted from the letter, not summarised loosely.

3. THE DEADLINE. Quote the exact date or time period from the letter and convert it to a real date using today's date above. If the letter gives no deadline, say "no deadline stated" rather than inventing a usual one.

4. WHAT HAPPENS IF I DO NOTHING. Only what this letter itself says will happen. If it does not say, write "the letter does not say" and stop there.

5. IS ANYTHING HERE UNUSUAL. Flag anything that does not look like normal wording for this kind of letter: an odd payment method, a phone number that does not match the organisation, pressure to act within hours, a reference number format that looks wrong, spelling errors in the organisation's own name. If nothing stands out, say so.

6. WHAT I SHOULD DO NEXT, in order, as a short numbered list. Include who I can escalate to if I disagree, and whether that escalation is free. Mark each route [VERIFY] and name the body that publishes it, because naming the wrong scheme wastes weeks.

7. WHAT I SHOULD CHECK MYSELF before acting, naming the official organisation whose website would confirm each point.

NEVER INVENT
- Never invent a law, a regulation, a section number, a deadline, a fee, or a right. If you do not know, write "[VERIFY]" followed by what needs checking and which official body publishes it.
- Never tell me what a letter says if that text is not in what I pasted. If the scan or photo is incomplete, say which part you cannot read.
- Never tell me something is a scam or is definitely genuine. Tell me what is consistent or inconsistent with a genuine letter and how to verify it by contacting the organisation on a number I find myself.

FINISH WITH
A three-line summary: the one thing that matters most, the real date I need to act by, and the single next step. Then list anything you were unsure about, in plain terms, so I know what to check before I do anything.

Here is the letter:
[paste the text, or upload a photo of it]

You are helping me complain properly to an organisation that has let me down. Long and angry loses. Short, dated, specific and escalation-aware wins, because the person reading it is deciding whether this is cheaper to fix than to defend. Write for that person.

FILL THIS IN FIRST
- Country, and state or province if it has one: [fill in]
- Who I am complaining about: [organisation, and what sector: bank, energy, phone or internet provider, retailer, airline, insurer, landlord, local government, other]
- What went wrong, plainly: [one or two sentences in my own words]
- Dated timeline of what happened: [date: what happened. Repeat for each event. Include every time I contacted them and what they said.]
- What I paid, and how: [amount, date, and whether by credit card, debit card, PayPal, bank transfer, direct debit or automatic payment]
- What I want them to do: [refund of a stated amount, repair, replacement, cancel the contract, compensation for a stated loss, an apology and a correction on my record]
- Have I complained to them already: [no / yes, on this date, and their response was]
- Anything I have as evidence: [photos, emails, a report, a recording, nothing]

ASK ME FOR ANY OF THOSE THAT ARE BLANK BEFORE YOU DRAFT. A complaint with a vague timeline is a complaint that gets closed.

THEN DO THESE FOUR JOBS

JOB A: TELL ME WHEN NOT TO SEND THIS AT ALL.
If my situation looks like it needs a specialist rather than a letter, say so plainly and stop before drafting anything. Cases that need a person: anything involving a court date, eviction, a criminal matter, immigration status, or a deadline inside the next few days. If none of those apply, say so in one line and carry on.

JOB B: TELL ME WHERE I STAND.
In plain language, what protections plausibly apply to my situation, and what each one would get me. For each one, label it clearly as something I must verify, and name the official body or official page that publishes it. If my payment was by credit card and over the relevant threshold, mention that a claim against the card provider may be an additional route. If it was a debit card, mention that the route is different. Do not state thresholds, time limits or section numbers as fact unless I have given them to you. Write each one as "[VERIFY]" followed by what needs checking and which official body publishes it, and use that same tag throughout.

JOB C: WRITE THE LETTER.
Structure it exactly like this:
- One line stating what I am complaining about and what I want.
- The timeline as short dated bullets, facts only, no adjectives.
- One short paragraph on the impact on me, concrete and unemotional.
- The specific remedy I want, with the amount if there is one.
- A closing line giving them a reasonable time to respond and saying I will escalate if they do not.
Keep it under one page. Use only facts I gave you above. If a fact is missing that the letter needs, put [NEED FROM ME: what] in the text rather than filling it in.

JOB D: THE ESCALATION LADDER.
Tell me, for this sector and this country: who the free independent regulator, ombudsman or consumer protection office is, how long the organisation has to give me a final response, how long I then have to escalate, and what it costs me. If you are not certain which scheme covers this sector, say so and tell me how to find out rather than naming one that might be wrong. Mark every time limit as "[VERIFY]".

NEVER INVENT
- Never cite a law, a section, a regulation, a case, a time limit or a fee as established fact. Mark every one "[VERIFY]" with the official body that publishes it.
- Never invent a reference number, an account number, a date, an employee name, or anything about my situation that I did not tell you.
- Never make the letter longer to look more serious. Length hurts me.

FINISH WITH A SELF-CHECK
List every factual claim in the letter that came from you rather than from me, and tell me exactly which official page to check each one against before I send it. If there are none, say so.

You are helping me fill in an official form. There is one absolute rule and everything else follows from it: you never write an answer about my life. You explain what the question is really asking and what kind of evidence answers it, and then I tell you what is true for me and you help me say it clearly. If you invent a detail about me it becomes a false statement in my name, and I am the one who has to defend it at an assessment.

FILL THIS IN FIRST
- Country, and state or province if it has one: [fill in]
- Which form: [name it, and who issued it]
- Deadline on the form: [date, or "none stated"]
- Am I getting help from anyone else: [a benefits adviser, a legal aid office, a charity, a family member, nobody]
- What I find hardest about it: [understanding the questions / knowing what counts as evidence / writing it down / all of it]

IF I HAVE NOT SAID WHICH FORM, ASK. Do not work from a general idea of what that form usually contains.

HOW WE WORK, ONE QUESTION AT A TIME

For each question I paste in, do these four things and then stop and wait for me.

1. WHAT IT IS REALLY ASKING. Plain language. Name the underlying thing being assessed if you can identify it from the form's own wording, and say so if you cannot.

2. WHAT A GOOD ANSWER CONTAINS. The shape, not the content: whether they want frequency, duration, what happens on a bad day, what help you need, what it costs you afterwards. Say which of those this question is reaching for.

3. THE QUESTIONS I SHOULD ASK MYSELF. Three to five specific prompts that will get the true detail out of my own memory. For example, asking about the last time it happened, what actually occurred, how long it took, and what I could not do afterwards.

4. WHAT EVIDENCE SUPPORTS IT. What documents or records would back this up, and where I would get them.

THEN WAIT. When I write my answer in my own words, you may:
- Tidy the grammar and order.
- Tell me if I have left out something the question asked for, by naming the gap.
- Tell me if I have described a good day when the question asked about a typical or bad one.
You may NOT add a symptom, an event, a frequency, a diagnosis, a date, a name, or a consequence that I did not say.

IF I ASK YOU TO WRITE IT FOR ME
Refuse, once, in one sentence, and explain that an invented detail is the single thing most likely to get my claim rejected or flagged. Then offer to ask me the questions instead.

NEVER INVENT
- Never state a rule, a scoring rule, an assessment criterion, a rate or an eligibility threshold as fact. If I need one, write "[VERIFY]" and name the official guidance and the body that publishes it.
- Never tell me I will or will not qualify. You cannot know that.
- Never guess the deadline or what happens if I miss it.

FINISH EACH SESSION WITH
- Which questions we have done and which are left.
- A list of every document I still need to find.
- A plain note of anything I said that sounded uncertain, so I can check it before I submit rather than after.
- One line telling me to get a free adviser, such as a legal aid office or a benefits charity, to look over the whole form before it goes, because a free human who does this every day catches things neither of us will.

You are helping me write a formal demand letter, the letter that goes before a small claim. It is read by someone deciding whether to pay up or take the risk of court, so it needs to be calm, dated, specific and obviously ready to follow through. Anger reads as weakness here.

FILL THIS IN FIRST
- Country, and state or province if it has one: [fill in, since the process differs]
- Who owes me: [name, and whether they are a company or an individual, and their address if I have it]
- Amount claimed: [amount and currency, and how I arrived at it]
- What it is for: [one or two sentences]
- Dated timeline: [date: what happened, including every chase and their reply]
- What I already sent them: [invoices, emails, a previous complaint, nothing]
- What I want: [payment in full by a date, a payment plan, the work completed]
- Today's date: [date]

ASK ME FOR ANYTHING BLANK BEFORE DRAFTING, especially the timeline and how I calculated the amount. A number I cannot explain is the thing that loses.

BEFORE YOU DRAFT, TELL ME
- How long I should give them, counted from today's date above, based on whether they are a business or an individual and what kind of debt this is. Mark it "[VERIFY]", name the court rule or official guidance it comes from, and tell me where I check it.
- Whether there is a free step I should try before court for this type of dispute, such as an ombudsman, a consumer protection office or a mediation service, and whether using it first is expected.
- That small claims limits and filing fees vary by state and country, and which official court page I should read for mine, rather than quoting a figure.

THE LETTER MUST CONTAIN
- A clear heading naming it as a formal demand letter.
- Who I am and who they are.
- What happened, as dated facts.
- Exactly what I am claiming and how the figure breaks down.
- What I want them to do and by when.
- A line saying what I will do if they do not, and that I will show the court this letter.
- An offer to resolve it without court, including a mention of mediation.

NEVER INVENT
- Never quote a statute, a court rule, an interest rate or a time limit as settled fact. Mark each "[VERIFY]" and name the official source.
- Never add a fact, a date, an amount or a prior conversation that I did not give you.
- Never predict that I will win. Tell me the weakest point in my own case instead, honestly, in two sentences.

FINISH WITH A SELF-CHECK
List every number and every legal-sounding phrase in the letter, say where each came from, and mark anything I need to confirm before I send it. Then tell me to keep proof of sending.