Understand an official letter and what I need to do next
Turns a confusing letter from an agency, bank, insurer, or court into plain words, the deadline, and a step-by-step action list.
The prompt
Help me understand a letter I received and what I need to do about it.
Who sent it: [e.g. a government agency, bank, insurer, court, utility, hospital]
The letter: [PASTE THE TEXT - remove account numbers, ID numbers, and signatures]
Date I received it: [DATE]
What I think it's about: [my guess, or "no idea"]
Anything I've already done: [calls, payments, replies]
Steps:
1. Summarize the letter in 3-5 plain sentences: what happened, what they want, and what happens if I do nothing.
2. Pull out every deadline, amount, reference number, and required action. Quote the exact wording for each.
3. Explain any jargon or legal terms.
4. Tell me how urgent this is: act today, act this week, or for my records only.
5. Check for signs it might not be genuine (pressure to pay by gift card or wire, a sender address or phone number that doesn't match the organization's official one, threats of immediate arrest). If anything looks off, tell me to contact the organization using a number from its official website, not the letter.
Return:
- A plain-language summary.
- A table: Action | Deadline | How (phone, mail, online) | What to have ready.
- A short reply or call script, if a response is needed.
- Questions to ask if I contact them.
Don't guess at rules or consequences the letter doesn't state - mark them [CONFIRM]. If the letter involves a lawsuit, eviction, or large debt, suggest I contact a lawyer or free legal aid service.
Highlighted [brackets] are blanks to replace with your own details.
Fill in the blanks and use this promptMore Personal Life & Wellbeing prompts
What to fill in
- DATE
- my guess, or "no idea"
- calls, payments, replies
- CONFIRM
How this prompt is built
This prompt follows the RTF structure (Role, Task, Format). RTF tells the model who to be, what to do and what shape the answer should take. It is the quickest structure that still gives noticeably better results than a bare request.
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