Your car insurance company has told you that they are going to increase the insurance amount you have to pay for your car each month. You are not happy about this. Write a letter to the insurance company. In your letter explain: - why you are writing to them - why you think the insurance amount should not be increased - what you want them to do
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam, I am writing in response to a letter that I received recently stating that my insurance premium would increase from July 2020. I do not believe the increase is justifiedrational and would therefore likeand hence would like you to reconsider it. I have been holding my car insurance policymanaging my car insurance with your company for the past eight yearslast 8 years and my insurance policy number is 8101023457-115-2. My monthly premium is already higher than the premiums paid by some of my colleagues and relativeshigher than that of some of my colleagues and relatives. The 20% increase in my monthly insurance premium20% increase in monthly insurance payment is not acceptable because I am already paying a higher premiumalready paying higher and no other majornotable insurance company has raised their premiumspremium recently. IncreasingInflating the premium, especially at a time of recession, goes against the policyholders' interestsinsurance holders' interest. I would really appreciate it if you could write me back with an explanation of why such an increase is needed when others have not done so. I would request you to reconsider the decision; otherwise,decision, otherwise, I am afraid I will have to transfermove my car insurance policy to another company. I am looking forward to receiving your reply as soon as possible. Yours faithfully, Sonia Vincent
Why this response received Band 7.5
The letter fully addresses the insurer, explains the objection with relevant supporting details, and makes the desired outcome unmistakably clear in an appropriately formal tone. Its main weakness is presentation: all ideas are compressed into one paragraph, while several collocations sound slightly unnatural. Dividing the response into focused paragraphs and refining phrases such as ‘paying higher’ would make the message more polished and easier to follow.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The purpose is immediately clear, all three bullet points are fully addressed, and the formal tone is consistently appropriate.
Make the objection even more persuasive by explaining briefly how the writer's claim history supports reconsideration.
Coherence and Cohesion
The reasoning progresses logically and linking is clear, but presenting the entire letter as one paragraph weakens organisation.
Separate the opening, reasons, and requested action into distinct paragraphs so each communicative stage is easy to locate.
Lexical Resource
A good range of topic-specific vocabulary conveys the complaint precisely, though a few collocations such as ‘paying higher’ are unnatural.
Use more idiomatic combinations, for example ‘paying a higher premium’ and ‘policyholders’ interests’.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Varied complex structures are handled accurately overall, with only occasional minor errors in punctuation and agreement.
Check clause boundaries and number agreement, particularly around ‘otherwise’ and references to companies and premiums.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
Your car insurance company has told you that they are going to increase the insurance amount you have to pay for your car each month. You are not happy about this. Write a letter to the insurance company. In your letter explain:
- why you are writing to them
- why you think the insurance amount should not be increased
- what you want them to do
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.