As of 13 August 2026, AI can only partly write a letter before action.

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 30 minutes until you can act on the result.

   How to actually do it

   1. Write a short description of the dispute, the remedy you want and the jurisdiction involved, such as England and Wales or Scotland.
   2. Gather the contract, order, invoices, photographs, messages, reports and previous complaints, then put them in date order and note what each document proves.
   3. Open the relevant dispute and pre-action guidance on GOV.UK and note any protocol, required information, response process or sending method that applies.
   4. Paste the prompt and your facts into an AI chat, then attach or paste only the documents needed to establish the dispute.
   5. Compare the draft line by line with the original documents, checking every name, date, amount, allegation, legal reference and requested remedy.
   6. Ask a solicitor to check the draft if the dispute is serious, legally complex, high value, disputed on the facts or likely to proceed to court.
   7. Send the checked letter using the method required by the relevant process, keep a copy of the final version and retain proof of delivery.

   Prompt

   Draft a UK letter before action for the dispute described below. Do not invent facts, legal rules, dates, deadlines, losses or evidence. If information is missing, put it in square brackets and list it under 'Information still needed'.
   
   Jurisdiction: [England and Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland]
   My name and address: [details]
   The other party's name and address: [details]
   Type of dispute: [brief description]
   Agreement, order or duty involved: [details, or state that there was none]
   Chronology: [events in order, with dates where known]
   What the other party did or failed to do: [details]
   Evidence I have: [contracts, invoices, photographs, messages, reports or other documents]
   Amount claimed and calculation: [amount and itemised calculation, or state that the claim is not primarily for money]
   What I want the other party to do: [payment, repair, delivery, apology or other remedy]
   Previous attempts to resolve it: [details]
   
   First, identify which facts are confirmed, which are unclear and which documents need checking. Then identify the potentially relevant UK pre-action protocol or official process, but do not state that one applies unless the facts support it. Flag every legal or procedural point that I should confirm on GOV.UK or with a solicitor. Do not threaten criminal action, claim that court proceedings are certain, or use an invented deadline. Draft the letter in a firm, factual and proportionate tone. Include the dispute, key facts, legal basis only where it can be stated safely from the information supplied, remedy sought, calculation, supporting documents, a reasonable response request subject to the relevant protocol, and a clear explanation of what may happen next. End with a separate checklist of factual, evidence, protocol and sending-method checks. This is drafting help, not professional advice.

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