On a recent holiday, you lost a valuable item. Fortunately, you have travel insurance to cover the cost of anything lost. Write a letter to the manager of your insurance company. In your letter: describe the item you lost explain how you lost it tell the insurance company what you would like them to do
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam, I am writing this letter to inform you that I have lost my professional Canon camera during my trip to Perth and would like to claim my insurance for the lost item. I have availed one of your insurance services recently, and my insurance number is 25478410. I stayed in Perth with my family between 18th June and 24th June and I had clicked so many amazing pictures during this time. Luckily, I transferred all the pictures to my cloud storage. I clearly remember that we took our last photo at the entrance of the hotel and left for the airport. I wanted to capture the last moment of our journey so I was looking for my camera and unfortunately, I could not find it. I called the hotel staff to look for it where we took the last photo but he confirmed that he could not find it. As per the travel insurance, I am entitled to receive coverage of the lost item. It was a Canon ULX-924 model camera which is hard to get due to its high demand. I would like to claim for the camera's original price as it was a fairly new camera. I would appreciate it if you could transfer the money into my account. Looking forward to hearing from you soon. Yours faithfully, Naaz Rihal
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Insurance phrase Original: claim my insurance Suggested revision: make an insurance claim Why it matters: This is the standard collocation for requesting payment from an insurer.
- 2. Awkward collocation Original: I have availed one of your insurance services Suggested revision: I recently purchased one of your travel insurance policies Why it matters: The original phrase is unnatural in English.
- 3. Comma before and Original: between 18th June and 24th June and I had clicked Suggested revision: between 18th June and 24th June, and I had taken Why it matters: The comma helps separate two independent clauses, and "taken" is the natural verb for photos.
- 4. Past perfect Original: I clearly remember that we took our last photo Suggested revision: I clearly remember taking our last photo Why it matters: This is a more natural structure after "remember".
- 5. Comma for contrast Original: so I was looking for my camera and unfortunately Suggested revision: so I looked for my camera, but unfortunately Why it matters: This better shows the contrast between looking and not finding it.
- 6. Clause boundary Original: where we took the last photo but he confirmed Suggested revision: where we took the last photo, but they confirmed Why it matters: A comma is needed before "but", and "they" avoids assuming one staff member.
- 7. Claim wording Original: receive coverage of the lost item Suggested revision: receive compensation for the lost item Why it matters: "Compensation" is the clearer noun for payment after a loss.
- 8. Concise detail Original: hard to get due to its high demand Suggested revision: currently difficult to replace Why it matters: This is more relevant to an insurance claim.
- 9. Verb pattern Original: claim for the camera's original price Suggested revision: claim the camera's original price Why it matters: The verb "claim" does not need "for" before the amount or item value here.
- 10. Polite request Original: transfer the money into my account Suggested revision: process the claim and transfer the reimbursement to my account Why it matters: This is more formal and appropriate for an insurance manager.
- 11. Policy wording Original: my insurance number Suggested revision: my policy number Why it matters: Insurance companies usually refer to this as a policy number.
- 12. Relevance check Original: Luckily, I transferred all the pictures to my cloud storage. Suggested revision: Fortunately, the photos had already been backed up to my cloud storage. Why it matters: This keeps the useful detail but links it more clearly to the lost camera.
Suggested Rewrites
- claim my insurance make an insurance claim
- I have availed one of your insurance services I recently purchased one of your travel insurance policies
- between 18th June and 24th June and I had clicked between 18th June and 24th June, and I had taken
- I clearly remember that we took our last photo I clearly remember taking our last photo
- so I was looking for my camera and unfortunately so I looked for my camera, but unfortunately
- where we took the last photo but he confirmed where we took the last photo, but they confirmed
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Detailed feedback by IELTS writing criterion after the annotated essay.
Task Achievement
The letter clearly describes the lost Canon camera, explains how it was lost, gives policy information, and requests payment under the travel insurance. The purpose is fully achieved.
Add the purchase price or attachable proof of value if available to make the claim more specific.
Coherence and Cohesion
Information is logically sequenced, but the single-paragraph format makes the claim less easy to process. Some details about photos and cloud storage are useful but slightly overdeveloped.
Use paragraphs for policy details, loss circumstances, item description, and requested action.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is appropriate for an insurance claim, including "claim", "coverage", and "original price". Some collocations are inaccurate, such as "availed one of your insurance services" and "claim my insurance".
Use standard insurance phrases such as "purchased a travel insurance policy" and "make a claim".
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The letter is clear, with some complex sentences. Errors with verb forms, articles, commas, and pronoun reference reduce grammatical accuracy.
Check clause boundaries and pronouns when describing the hotel staff and the sequence of losing the item.