Read the whole document
Identify the authority, reference, date and recipient. A request for more information, a refusal and a final decision may require different responses.
Keep proof of delivery
Save the envelope, certified email receipts, attachments and notices as well as the PDF. How and when you received them may affect when action is needed.
Put events in order
Arrange the application, additions, messages and response by date, with a short explanation. Note missing records and consider the appropriate access procedure.
An imagined example
An office refuses an application because an attachment seems missing. A sending receipt may help establish whether it was supplied. It does not prove every other requirement was met.
Choose the right route
Clarification, reconsideration and court action are different. A letter to the office may not stop an appeal deadline. A professional must examine the decision, subject and timeline.
