Scripts
Short, polite emails you can copy and adapt: asking how a fee is worked out, asking for a cap, asking to see the claim, asking about referral fees, declining a cold call, requesting your records and giving notice.
Most of the questions on this site are easier to ask in writing. An email gives the adviser time to answer properly, gives you the answer in a form you can compare with other proposals, and becomes part of the record if there is ever a disagreement about what was said.
Each script here is short, polite and firm. Replace the highlighted placeholders with your own details, cut anything that does not apply, and keep the tone. None of these emails accuses anyone of anything, and none of them tells you to withhold a fee: they ask for information, propose a term, or give notice in the way your contract provides for.
Before you send any of these
Read the page for the matching clause and question first, so you know what a good answer looks like. For the notice email, check the notice terms in your own contract and take advice before sending. Every script can be copied with one click or downloaded as a Word file. No sign up is needed and the file carries the same disclaimer as the page.
- Asking how the fee is calculatedAn email asking for the fee base, the rate, any cap or minimum, the payment timing and a worked example, in writing, so that proposals can be compared on the same basis.
- Asking for a fee capAn email proposing a ceiling on a percentage fee, with the reasons a business can give and the alternatives it can offer if the answer is no.
- Asking to see the claim before filingAn email asking for the full claim, the calculations and the technical descriptions in time to review them, and for filing to wait for your written approval.
- Asking about referral feesA short question to put to an adviser, and the same question to whoever introduced them, about any payment for the introduction. Polite, direct, and best asked before you sign.
- Declining a cold callWhat to say on the phone when someone calls about a refund your business is owed, and what to ask for in writing if you want to hear more. Calm, short and the same every time.
- Requesting your recordsAn email asking an adviser for your working papers and claim files: what to ask for, in what form, and by when. Polite, specific and tied to the clause in your letter.
- Giving notice to end an engagementNotice wording that follows the terms of your contract: the clause, the date and the handover. Check the contract and take advice before you send it.
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