Demand letter template
The written notice that usually comes before anything formal. What it contains, and the letter itself, ready to fill in.
The short version
A record, before anything else
A demand letter is a written notice to a business setting out what was agreed, what happened, and what would put it right. It is not a filing and it starts nothing formal. Its value is that it creates a dated record of a specific request, which is the thing most disputes turn out to be missing.
Plenty of matters end here, because the letter is the first point at which somebody at the business has to look at the file and decide. Others do not, and the letter is then the first document anyone reviewing the dispute reads.
What one contains
Six things, in roughly this order
Who is writing, and about what
The account, the job, the invoice or the policy number: whatever identifies the matter on the other side's system. A letter a business cannot match to a record is a letter that gets set aside.
What was agreed
What the business said it would do, and where that was recorded: a contract, a quote, a written estimate, a text message. The agreement is the thing everything else is measured against.
What happened instead
The facts in order, with dates. Not an argument about them. The sequence itself is usually the argument, and a letter that reads as calm reads as credible.
What it cost
What was paid, what had to be paid again, and what is still outstanding. Amounts that can be evidenced from a receipt or a statement rather than estimated.
What would settle it
The specific outcome being sought: a repair, a refund, a replacement, or a sum. A letter that describes a problem without naming a resolution leaves the other side deciding what the resolution is.
How to respond, and by when
A route back and a date. What counts as a reasonable period varies by state and by what the contract says, which is why it is a decision rather than a standard number.
The template
Fill in the brackets and send it
Fill in each bracketed field with your own facts. Nothing here names a state, a deadline, or a dollar figure: those are yours to fill in, or a business's own contract may already set them.
To [Business name],
Re: [Account, job, or invoice number]
What was agreed
On [Date of agreement], we agreed that [What was agreed].
What happened
[What happened instead, with dates]
What it has cost
To date I have paid [Amount already paid]. [Amount owed, or to be refunded] is still outstanding.
What would resolve this
To resolve this, I am asking that you [The specific resolution you want].
How to respond
Please respond by [Response deadline]. If I do not hear from you by then, I will consider further options, including a formal complaint or small claims court.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
What it does not do
Worth knowing before you send one
A demand letter does not compel a response. A business can ignore it, and some do. What it changes is the record: after it, the question stops being whether the business knew and becomes what it did once it knew.
It also does not decide what a claim is worth. What is recoverable depends on the contract, the state, and what can be evidenced, which is why a letter that names a specific, supportable outcome tends to do better than one that names a large one.
Satisfy is not a law firm and this page is not legal advice. What it gives you is a common commercial step and a blank form for it, ready to send under your own name.
If you would rather not
We write it, send it, and follow it up
Writing the letter is the part people can do themselves. Chasing it is the part that tends not to happen: working out who at the business actually decides, following up when nothing comes back, and keeping the pressure on for as long as it takes.
That is the work we take on. Tell us what happened and we will say whether it is something we can help with.