Letters in Casework
A letter sent from a case should do three things at once: go out, be evidenced, and satisfy the deadline it exists for.
Where to find it
Architect Panel → Communication:
- Letters — the send itself
- Service Methods — the deemed-service rule applied
Architect Panel → Activity:
- Correspondence — the served item on the case file
Architect Panel → Automation:
- Obligations — the deadline the letter discharges
Evidence the despatch
Record the document as sent, the address it went to, and when it was despatched. Keep the document as sent rather than the template — regenerating it later shows the current wording, which is not what the recipient received.
Deemed service
Where the regime deems service a set period after posting, derive that date from the despatch date rather than typing it, in working days where the rule says working days. Record it as what it is — a legal presumption, not an observed fact.
Close the obligation from the send
If the letter discharges an obligation, closing it should follow from the send rather than being a separate step somebody remembers.
An obligation left open after the letter went out is a false breach. A service chasing false breaches quickly stops trusting its own escalations, at which point the whole mechanism has been undermined by an administrative gap.
Returned mail
Letters come back. Have a route for recording that an address is wrong, because an address you keep writing to after it bounced is one you will be asked about — particularly where the correspondence carried legal consequence and the recipient says they never received it.
Worked example — a council
A housing benefit overpayment notice is served by second class post. The despatch confirmation returns and is filed as correspondence. The service method adds two working days for deemed service, and the 28-day appeal window is an obligation derived from that date. When the resident appeals on day 30, the file shows the deemed date, the despatch confirmation and the notice exactly as sent.
Worked example — a legal practice
A letter before action goes by email and post the same day, recorded as two service events with their own methods and deemed dates. If the email address proves wrong the postal service still stands, and the matter file holds both.
Recommendations
- Serve by two methods where consequences are serious, and record both separately.
- Derive windows from the deemed date, not the despatch date, unless the regime says otherwise.
- Never regenerate a served document to answer a query. Produce the stored one.
- Link the letter to the obligation so the deadline closes itself.