Claim letter – a business letter containing a statement about the discovery of non-compliance of goods or services with the requirements stated in the contract. The purpose of the claim (reclamation) – to compensate for losses incurred as a result of breach of contract.
The claim (reclamation) is made in writing on the form of a letter. In fact it is a kind of commercial letter.
Since in practice there can be many situations giving rise to claims, there cannot be a single form of claim, but we can talk about the mandatory elements of the text and the rules of registration, which should always be observed, no matter what the reason for the claim is made.
The claim (complaint) must contain the following information:
- the full name of the organization to which the claim is sent, its address;
- The basis of the claim (reference to the contract between the parties, a letter of guarantee or other obligations);
- The subject matter of the claim (it must be specified which obligation is violated and to what extent);
- evidence (references to documents confirming the violation of contractual obligations by the guilty party);
- specific requirements of the claimant (demand for replacement of the low-quality goods, demand for price reduction, additional supply of missing goods or return of the amount paid for missing goods, demand for a discount from the total cost of the batch of goods, demand for termination of the contract or compensation of losses, etc.).
Claims must be sent to the party at fault by registered mail (or return receipt requested) with copies of all documents confirming the validity of the claim and having full probative value for both parties. The attachment documents must be listed in the text of the claim or in the attachment note. Depending on the subject matter of the claim, attachments to the claim may include such documents as an examination report, an act of non-conformity of the goods in terms of quantity and quality, a complaint report, shipping documents, etc. The organization sending the claim must keep the post office receipt of sending the letter.
The following phrases are used in the text of the claim:
We are sending you a claim for…
A claim (complaint) against you for…
We complain to you about…
We send you the examination report no. , which shows that…
Our customer is lodging a complaint with you about the quality…
A shortage was found in the shipment of ….
During acceptance of the goods received (date) under consignment note no…, a shortage was detected… etc.
The following expressions are used at the end of the text: In accordance with the above, we ask you to replace the defective goods with new ones (send us a new batch of goods; supply the missing goods; reimburse the cost of the damaged goods; reimburse the losses; provide a discount from the price of %; transfer the amount to our current account ; compensate the expenses in the amount of ___, etc.).
The claim must have a heading to the text that refers to the contract under which it is made, for example: About the claim under the contract of sale of __ No. .