Even though an organization or institution is an entity and is treated like one, it is not ever possible that it can represent itself on occasions when it is needed. In fact sometimes people also cannot represent themselves at some places because of various reasons, one being that they are committed elsewhere. A “representative” is an individual who goes to a place on behalf of someone else.

A Representative Letter is the one that basically introduces the individual to the others. It indicates to the others that the individual who is carrying the letter is authorized to take decisions, participate or attend a meeting on behalf of the writer of the letter. The carrier of the letter may be an employee, a friend, lawyer or anyone who is considered worthy of being trusted with the job assigned to her/him.

DOS AND DON’T’S OF REPRESENTATIVE LETTER

  • A Representative Letter should be written only when the person herself/himself is unable to make it for the occasion or meeting
  • It should be entrusted only to a selected few individuals who are reliable
  • It should be short and brief
  • A Representative Letter should be addressed to “whomsoever it may concern” because one does not know who to address it to
  • But the letter must have a date when it has been written
  • It should also have a date till when this letter is valid
  • It is always a good idea to let the representative put her/his specimen signatures at the bottom of the letter which can be attested by the writer
  • The letter also has to specify why a representative is being sent instead of the person coming herself/himself
  • The letter should specify the purpose of writing the letter, i.e. why is a person other than herself/himself is representing her/him
  • To give it that official look, a typed Representative Letter is better than a hand-written one
  • Even though the letter is typed, the signature should be done with ink and it should not be scanned or embossed
  • There should be no grammatical errors or punctuation mistakes in the letter.

SAMPLE REPRESENTATIVE LETTER

TO WHOM SO EVER IT MAY CONCERN

__________ (Date)

This is to certify that I, ____________ (your name), would not be able to come for the court case date today because I am running very high fever. Therefore my colleague, Ms/Mr. ____________ (name) will be coming to represent me in the court. I have already informed about this to my lawyer, Ms/Mr. ____________ (name of lawyer).

The inconvenience is deeply regretted.

This letter is valid only for one day, i.e. ___________ (date).

I have attested the signatures of my representative below so that they can be identified if s/he needs to sign on any document.

Best regards,

(Name of person writing letter)

(Signatures of representative)

Above signatures attested.

(Signatures of person writing letter)