Your car was hired from a company and while you were driving on holiday, you had a small accident. You will have to write a report to the company to explain it. Write a letter to the company. In your letter, you need to explain the following: - when and where you hired the car - describe how the accident happened - what kind of action you took after the accident
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam, I have hired a Toyota Altis car on 17th August from your head office located at Serangoon, for a period of 15 days. The registration number of the car is SGT 2345D. I am writing to inform you that I have been involved in a minor accident earlier today that caused some damages to the car. I was on my way to my office and at the Raffle city junction, a car from the opposite direction tried to cross the signal when it was red. Due to his rash driving, his vehicle slightly touched the right side of my car. I tried my best to avoid it, but could not help much. The driver side's rear-view mirror broke and also led to some scratches on the right side of the car. I reported the incident to the on-duty police and he lodged a complaint and informed the other driver's insurance company. I am attaching the police report to this letter so that you can review what really happened and claim the insurance for the repair costs. But I replaced the rearview mirror from the service station as it is very necessary for driving. I am ready to cooperate regarding this and if you need any further information, I am available at 98765678. Yours faithfully, Ankit Gupta
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use simple past Original: have hired Suggested revision: hired Why it matters: Use the simple past for a completed rental on a stated date.
- 2. Remove unnecessary comma Original: Serangoon, Suggested revision: Serangoon Why it matters: The comma incorrectly separates the location from the following prepositional phrase.
- 3. Use consistent past Original: have been involved Suggested revision: was involved Why it matters: The simple past presents the completed accident more directly in this report.
- 4. Use uncountable noun Original: damages Suggested revision: damage Why it matters: Damage is normally uncountable when referring generally to harm to a vehicle.
- 5. Correct place name Original: Raffle city junction Suggested revision: Raffles City junction Why it matters: The place name needs the correct spelling and capitalization.
- 6. Use natural collocation Original: signal Suggested revision: intersection Why it matters: A vehicle crosses an intersection rather than a signal.
- 7. Name the traffic light Original: when it was red Suggested revision: while the traffic light was red Why it matters: The revision makes the pronoun reference precise and natural.
- 8. Use precise accident verb Original: slightly touched Suggested revision: grazed Why it matters: Grazed describes minor contact between the two vehicles more precisely.
- 9. Clarify the outcome Original: could not help much Suggested revision: could not prevent the collision Why it matters: The original phrase is vague about what the writer was unable to do.
- 10. Name the officer Original: on-duty police Suggested revision: police officer on duty Why it matters: Police refers to the service collectively, so the individual needs the noun officer.
- 11. Use report terminology Original: he lodged a complaint Suggested revision: the officer filed a report Why it matters: Filed a report is clearer for describing the officer's documented action.
- 12. Correct insurance collocation Original: claim the insurance Suggested revision: make an insurance claim Why it matters: English uses make a claim rather than claim the insurance in this context.
Suggested Rewrites
- have hired hired
- Serangoon, Serangoon
- have been involved was involved
- damages damage
- Raffle city junction Raffles City junction
- signal intersection
Why this response received Band 6.5
The letter clearly explains the rental, accident, damage, and follow-up actions in a suitably formal voice, with enough specific detail to make the report useful. Its main weaknesses are the mismatch between the holiday scenario and the claim that the writer was travelling to work, along with an unbroken body paragraph and several awkward expressions. Prioritise maintaining the given situation and grouping the rental, accident, and response details into distinct paragraphs.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The purpose is clear and all three bullet points are developed, although travelling to the office conflicts with the holiday scenario.
Keep every event consistent with the stated holiday context while retaining the useful details about the accident and subsequent action.
Coherence and Cohesion
Information progresses logically from the hire to the collision and response, but the whole body is presented as one dense paragraph.
Use separate paragraphs for the rental background, the accident itself, and the actions taken afterwards.
Lexical Resource
The letter uses a sufficient range of relevant vocabulary, though phrases such as 'some damages' and 'claim the insurance' are imprecise.
Choose more natural collocations such as 'some damage,' 'ran the red light,' and 'make an insurance claim.'
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A mix of simple and complex structures communicates the account clearly, despite several article, tense, and possessive-form errors.
Review tense consistency and noun phrases, especially forms such as 'I hired,' 'the driver's side mirror,' and 'at a service station.'
Write this task while it is fresh
Try the same task now. It helps you remember the feedback and write better next time.
IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
Your car was hired from a company and while you were driving on holiday, you had a small accident. You will have to write a report to the company to explain it. Write a letter to the company. In your letter, you need to explain the following:
- when and where you hired the car
- describe how the accident happened
- what kind of action you took after the accident
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.