As of 13 August 2026, AI can only partly check your letter before action against the UK pre-action protocol.

What to actually do

1. Hand it to a person

   The route this page recommends

   Someone with a licence or accountable authority has to sign this before it counts.

2. Use a tool built for this

   Second choice

3. Do it yourself

   The distant third

   A chat interface, chat-fluent skill, and roughly 1 hour until you can act on the result.

   How to actually do it

   1. Open the current relevant pre-action protocol on GOV.UK and save the version you are using, including its scope, requirements and any response periods.
   2. Gather the draft letter, contract or terms, key correspondence, chronology, evidence list and the figures or remedy you are asking for, removing irrelevant personal data.
   3. Paste or upload the protocol first, then the draft letter and supporting material, and use the supplied prompt without asking the chatbot to decide whether you have a valid claim.
   4. Compare the model's table with the actual protocol, checking every quotation, citation, party detail, date, sum, address and response period against the source documents.
   5. Mark every point labelled unclear, legally dependent or outside the protocol, and prepare the underlying documents and questions for a solicitor.
   6. Ask a solicitor to check the completed letter and evidence before you send it, particularly if the dispute is high value, urgent or likely to proceed to court.

   Prompt

   Act as a document-checking assistant, not my solicitor. I will provide a draft letter before action, the current UK pre-action protocol that I believe applies, and any supporting chronology or documents. First identify whether the supplied protocol appears to be the relevant one for this dispute, without guessing if the facts are insufficient. Then check the draft section by section against the protocol and produce a table with: protocol requirement, exact location in the draft, status as present, incomplete, absent or unclear, and the smallest factual or structural change needed. Check the parties, addresses, contract or legal basis, chronology, allegations, remedy sought, valuation, evidence, response deadline, documents enclosed, dispute resolution wording and any required disclosure or information. Flag every point that depends on facts or legal judgement. Quote or cite the supplied protocol for each procedural finding, and state clearly when the protocol does not answer a question. Do not invent facts, legal authorities, deadlines, sums, causes of action or evidence. Do not decide whether I have a valid claim, whether the letter should be sent, or whether a deadline is legally effective. End with a short list titled 'Questions for a solicitor'. Draft no final letter unless I ask separately. Here is the dispute context: [brief factual summary]. Here is the draft letter: [paste or attach]. Here is the protocol and supporting material: [paste or attach].

   Open it prefilled in ChatGPT or Claude, or copy it into Gemini, which takes no prefill link.