Letters – Free Sample Letters

Businesses would not run if everybody had money for everything that s/he desired to have. It is only because of money being available with someone that there are people who fulfill their dreams. A Creditor may be a person or an institution or a bank that offers the facility of giving money as loan to be paid back with interest. A Debtor on the contrary is a person or an organization that takes the money for its business or any other requirement.

A creditor usually writes a Collection Letter to her/his debtor. This letter is written when a payment is either due or overdue. It could also be just a simple reminder Collection Letter for the debtor.

DOS AND DON’T’S OF COLLECTION LETTER

• A Collection Letter should be written well before the payment due date so that it gives enough time to the debtor to arrange for the funds
• It should be short and brief
• The letter should only talk about the current payment due or about any pending payments only
• Even though the creditor writes this letter, the tone of the letter should not be rude or insulting or humiliating or threatening. The creditor must not forget that the debtor has taken money under some compulsions
• The language of the Collection Letter should be simple and easily understandable
• It should clearly give the deadline by when the payment needs to be made
• The letter must also have the date when the letter has been written to be able to track it later
• Since it is a Collection Letter and it has a loan reference attached to it, the reference number should also be mentioned in the letter to track the payment history of that particular loan
• A Collection Letter is purely an official letter so it should always be typed
• There should not be any grammatical or punctuation errors
• Any repercussions for non payment should also be mentioned in the letter to ensure transparency of communication

SAMPLE COLLECTION LETTER

_________________ (Name and address of debtor)

________________ (Date)

Subject: Reminder for collection against first installment

Dear Ms/Mr ___________

This is with reference to the loan that you have taken from our institution vide docket number _____________ dated ____________.

We would like to inform you that your first installment is due on _________ (date) as per the loan agreement. This is a payment collection reminder for the same.

Please let us know how and by when will the payment be made to us. Alternatively we can also send our representative to collect the payment from you at a time convenient to you.

Just to reiterate that if the payments are not received before the due dates, we will have to take legal action.

We hope to have a pleasurable business relationship with you.

Best regards,

(Name of signing authority)

Most official letters are formal in nature. They are formal because lot of major as well as minor decisions need to be communicated. To ensure that official letters are taken seriously, they need to be formal. Formal official letters can be of various kinds:

1. Layoff letters
2. Office holiday information letters
3. Employees leave structure letters
4. Promotion letters
5. Demotion letters
6. Termination letters
7. Hiring letters

This is just a small list, there may be many more to add to this list. Formal Letters can either be written to specific individuals or to a group of employees. If it is written to one individual, it is meant only for her/him. But if it is written to a group of individuals, then it applies to all of them equally.

DOS AND DON’T’S OF FORMAL LETTERS

• A Formal Letter should always be on the company letterhead
• It should be typed and not hand written
• Before the letter is sent out it must be checked for any grammatical or punctuation errors
• Even though it is a typed letter, the signatures should not be embossed
• The name and address of the addressee should be on the top left corner of the letter
• The name and address should be followed by the date
• After the date mention the subject line
• The letter should start with “Dear” even if the reader is unknown. This brings warmth in the letter for the reader
• If the reader is a known person then the letter should directly be addressed to her/him
• If however the reader and the gender is not known then it should be addressed to “madam/sir”
• Formal Letters should be short and brief
• The letter should give all possible details about the subject matter that it is intended to talk about
• The tone of the letter should not be authoritative or dictatorial. Based on the letter type, the tone could be either polite or firm
• Effort should be made to ensure that the letter does not give a feeling of being closed or blocked, i.e. it should be an open ended letter indicative that options are open
• If it is a letter that is needed to inspire the employees, then it should have adjectives to support the thought
• Alternatively if the letter is to convey a strict decision taken, then appropriate adjectives should be used
• An Informal Letter should ensure that communication is transparent
• The letter should end with “yours sincerely” or “best regards”
• The authorized signatories phone number of email address should form a part of the letter so that the reader has the option of contacting her/him in case any clarifications are needed

An individual who is going to start working or is already working goes through various stages of her/his employment. The stages may be hiring, promotion, demotion, retrenchment or layoff and dismissal. Some of these stages indicate positive growth and some are negative.

A Dismissal Letter is given to an employee whose services in the organization are deemed to be over. There is a reason behind this letter being given to an individual and that reason is always a result of negative behavior of the concerned employee. No employee would like to get this letter ever in her/his work span and no company also likes giving it but there are certain unavoidable situations wherein there is no other option left but to hand over this letter.

DOS AND DON’T’S OF DISMISSAL LETTER

• A Dismissal Letter should only be given to an employee once the entire situation has been looked into deeply
• Since receiving this letter impacts the recipient’s life to a great extent it should be very sparingly issued
• Even though the employee is being sacked or being asked to leave immediately, in no way should s/he be humiliated in the letter
• The tone of the letter should not be insulting but it should surely be firm
• The Dismissal Letter should be brief and to the point
• It should also indicate to the employee that if a reference letter is required it will be given
• The Dismissal Letter should always give the reason that has lead to the issuance of this letter
• The reason should be supported with real time incidents with dates if possible
• The letter should always have the contact details of the signing authority in case any clarification is required
• The Dismissal Letter should give the date from when the letter is effective to avoid any confusion
• It should ideally be typed and given out
• A copy of the letter should be signed by the recipient and kept by HR in case of any legal issues that might come up later

SAMPLE DISMISSAL LETTER

_____________ (Name and address of reader)

______________ (Date)

Subject: Dismissal Letter

Dear Ms/Mr __________

It has been observed that despite repeated reminders on _______ (dates) regarding adherence to the office timings, you still seem to be extremely relaxed about being regular and punctual at work. This attitude is obviously creating negative ripple effects amongst all the other employees.

Therefore the management has decided to dismiss your services with immediate effect. You are requested to please hand over charge to Ms/Mr ____________ by _________ (date).

Because you are still on probation, as per the HR policy there is no need for a notice period from either side. You may please collect your full and final settlement from the Accounts Department.

If you need a reference letter please do let us know and we shall be glad to help you.

Please feel free to contact the undersigned for any clarifications.

We wish you all the best in all your future endeavors.

Best regards,

(Name of signing authority)