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/Madam I am writing to inform you that I recently lost my digital camera while on holiday in Vietnam. The camera is a black Canon 70d and cost $1550 when I bought it new last month. It has a resolution of 20 megapixels, a Canon 67 millimeter lens and was in a brown leather case with my name on it. I lost it when I was having coffee with my husband in the backpacker area of Ho Chi Minh City. I believe the coffee shop was called Highlands Coffee and it was on Pham Ngu Lao Street. We had been at the coffee shop for around 45 minutes when I noticed it was missing. I am entitled to make a claim for the value of the above mentioned item and request that you send me details on what I need to do in order to proceed. I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience. Yours faithfully John Smith
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Format the salutation Original: Dear Sir/Madam Suggested revision: Dear Sir or Madam, Why it matters: A formal salutation should use conventional wording and end with a comma.
- 2. Capitalize the model Original: 70d Suggested revision: 70D Why it matters: The camera model needs its standard capitalization.
- 3. Format the price Original: $1550 Suggested revision: $1,550 Why it matters: A thousands separator makes the amount easier to read.
- 4. Hyphenate the measurement Original: a Canon 67 millimeter lens Suggested revision: a 67-millimetre Canon lens Why it matters: The measurement needs hyphenation when it functions as a compound modifier.
- 5. Use a natural collocation Original: area Suggested revision: district Why it matters: District is a more precise word for a recognizable part of a city.
- 6. Hyphenate the modifier Original: above mentioned Suggested revision: above-mentioned Why it matters: The compound adjective before item should be hyphenated.
- 7. Improve the preposition Original: on Suggested revision: of Why it matters: Details of is the more natural collocation in this request.
- 8. Punctuate the closing Original: Yours faithfully Suggested revision: Yours faithfully, Why it matters: The formal complimentary close should end with a comma.
- 9. Use formal phrasing Original: inform Suggested revision: notify Why it matters: Notify is a concise formal verb for reporting the loss.
- 10. Use formal vocabulary Original: bought Suggested revision: purchased Why it matters: Purchased is more appropriate than bought in a formal insurance claim.
- 11. Use precise formal wording Original: around Suggested revision: approximately Why it matters: Approximately gives the time estimate a more formal tone.
- 12. Make a courteous request Original: I am entitled to make a claim Suggested revision: I would like to make a claim Why it matters: This wording states the desired action directly while maintaining a professional tone.
Suggested Rewrites
- Dear Sir/Madam Dear Sir or Madam,
- 70d 70D
- $1550 $1,550
- a Canon 67 millimeter lens a 67-millimetre Canon lens
- area district
- above mentioned above-mentioned
Why this response received Band 7.5
The letter’s strongest feature is its precise, relevant description of the camera and the clear formal request, while the sequence of events and claim purpose are easy to understand. Its main limitation is organisation: the greeting, body, and closing run together without paragraph breaks, which weakens readability. The highest-priority improvement is to separate the purpose, loss circumstances, and requested action into clear paragraphs.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The letter clearly establishes its purpose, covers all three bullet points, and supplies specific relevant details in a suitable formal register.
State the desired claim outcome more directly, such as reimbursement or replacement, rather than only requesting procedural details.
Coherence and Cohesion
Information follows a clear sequence from item description to loss circumstances and the claim request, but the entire letter is presented without paragraph breaks.
Divide the response into distinct paragraphs for the purpose, the loss details, and the requested action.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is precise and appropriately formal, with effective details such as the model, lens, location, and claim terminology.
Refine occasional conventional wording by using a more concise phrase such as 'the item described above.'
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A varied range of complex sentences is handled accurately, and grammatical errors are rare and non-impeding.
Add the expected punctuation and line separation after the greeting and before the closing to polish presentation.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
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
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.