Browse the archive

An Italian written complaint, in Italian, to the public relations office (URP) of a local health authority (ASL), a hospital trust or an accredited facility, about a poor service or conduct in care: the patient or a relative gives the ward, the date and the facts and asks for checks and a written answer within the time set by the authority’s service charter. Many authorities have their own free complaint form. Send it by PEC, registered post with proof of receipt, or by hand. It holds health data, so it is sold blank and filled in by hand.

For a person in Spain whom an electricity, gas, phone or other company has signed up, switched from their supplier or charged for a service they did not ask for. The letter denies any consent, recalls that silence is not acceptance and that unsolicited supplies need not be paid for (art. 66 quáter of the Spanish Consumer Protection Act, TRLGDCU), asks for the contract to be cancelled, a return to the previous company and a refund, and invites the company to negotiate as Spanish Organic Law 1/2025 requires. Send it by burofax with certified content. In Spanish.

A Spanish written complaint, in Spanish, for a person treated at a public hospital or health centre in Spain, or a relative, who wants to complain in writing about the care: an excessive wait, a cancelled appointment, poor treatment, a lack of information. It is addressed to the patient service (servicio de atención al paciente), asks for the facts to be looked into and for a reasoned answer within the period set by the region's rules. It is not a claim for compensation. File it at the service itself, at any public registry office, at a post office or online. It holds health data, so it is sold blank and filled in by hand.

Your instruction to your own bank in Austria about a direct debit or a standing order: have a SEPA direct debit refunded, dispute a debit taken without a valid mandate, stop an announced debit, bar a payee's future debits or delete a standing order (Dauerauftrag). An authorised SEPA direct debit is refunded within eight weeks with no reason needed (§§ 70, 71 of the Austrian Payment Services Act, ZaDiG 2018), an unauthorised one within 13 months (§ 65 ZaDiG 2018). With payee, mandate reference, amount and date. In German.

The complaint to the local court against the report by which a fine was imposed in Romania — a traffic fine or any other. It is filed within 15 days of receipt (art. 31 of Ordinance no. 2/2001) and asks for the report to be annulled or the fine replaced with a warning. It sets out the grounds of absolute nullity in art. 17 — the officer's details, the offence, the date or the signature missing — the evidence, and a request to be tried in absence.

For anyone who receives a notice or payment demand for Italian car tax (bollo auto) that is not owed: already paid, time-barred, vehicle not registered to them or exempt. The request, in Italian, asks the Region's tax office, or the body named on the notice, to cancel it on review; many Regions offer a free form or online service, to be preferred where it exists. In Friuli Venezia Giulia and Sardinia the tax is collected by the Agenzia delle Entrate, in Trentino-Alto Adige by the Province. No stamp duty; send by PEC, registered post or by hand. It does not stop the 60 days for an appeal.

A letter to the payee — a gym, insurer, club, mail-order shop or debt collector in Germany — revoking your SEPA direct debit mandate (formerly Einzugsermächtigung). It gives the mandate reference, the creditor identifier and your IBAN, forbids further debits from receipt, and says how payment continues: you will pay by transfer, the contract has ended, or you will pay from another account. Revoking the mandate ends neither the contract nor what you owe. If a debit still arrives, your bank refunds a SEPA core direct debit within eight weeks, no reason needed (§ 675x of the German Civil Code, BGB). In German.

You paid in advance and the service was never performed — a trip cancelled, a tradesman who never came, a course that never started. The request states what was paid, when and for what, establishes that the service was not provided, and sets a period for the money to be returned. Attach the proof of payment: without it the argument turns into whether there was a payment at all.

For someone with an account in Spain who wants a company or a person to stop taking payments from it. Two letters: to the bank, revoking that creditor's direct debit mandate (SEPA mandate) so that no further debits are paid; and to the creditor, telling them so and saying how payment will be made from now on, or why the charges are disputed. The revocation applies to debits due after the business day on which the bank receives it (article 52 of Spain's Royal Decree-Law 19/2018). Send them by burofax, by hand against a signed copy or by registered post. In Spanish.

For someone who has revoked a mandate, authorisation or power and wants the bank, company, building administrator or office the agent dealt with to stop acting on the agent’s instructions. The letter gives notice of the revocation and its date, identifies the agent and asks for written confirmation. It goes by burofax with certified content and acknowledgement of receipt, one letter per recipient, with a copy of the principal’s ID. Many Spanish banks have their own procedure to remove an authorised person. In Spanish.

A Cypriot cardholder's written request to the bank or card issuer disputing charges: a transaction the cardholder did not authorise, a purchase never delivered, a refund the merchant did not make, a double charge or a subscription already cancelled. It asks the issuer to recover the charge from the merchant's bank (a chargeback) and, for an unauthorised transaction, to refund by the next business day under Law 31(I)/2018, and warns of a referral to the Financial Ombudsman.

A written request from the account holder to a bank in Cyprus to end the account agreement and close a bank account. It gives the account's IBAN, the closing date and the account the balance goes to, and asks the bank to cancel the cards and end standing orders and direct debits, refund prepaid fees pro rata and confirm the closure in writing. The Payment Services Directive, in force in Cyprus through Law 31(I)/2018, lets a consumer end the agreement at any time, with at most one month's notice.

For a person who booked a package holiday in Spain or with a Spanish organiser (flight and hotel, a cruise or an agency package) that did not go as agreed: a different hotel, excursions that did not happen, missing services. The letter claims from the organiser or the agency a price reduction for the days affected and compensation for damage (arts. 161 and 162 of the Spanish Consumer Protection Act, TRLGDCU), and invites it to negotiate as Spanish Organic Law 1/2025 requires before suing. Send it by burofax with certified content to the organiser or the agency that sold the trip. In Spanish.

The written power of attorney that lets another person — the buyer of your car, for instance — act for you at an Austrian registration office run by a motor insurer: to deregister the car and hand back the Zulassungsschein and plates, with or without reserving the number, to register it in your name, or to deposit papers and plates under § 52 of the Austrian Motor Vehicles Act (KFG). With both people's details, the vehicle's chassis number and plate, and a period of validity. The same in every Land. Deregistration itself is free. In German, ready to print and sign by hand.

A letter to your German bank or Sparkasse to refund a direct debit, stop a debit that has been announced, refuse a payee's future debits, or cancel a standing order. A SEPA core direct debit can be reclaimed within eight weeks of the debit with no reason given (§ 675x of the German Civil Code, BGB), and a debit taken without a valid mandate up to 13 months later (§§ 675u, 676b BGB). A standing order or an announced debit can be revoked until the end of the business day before it is carried out (§ 675p BGB). With the payee, mandate reference, amount and date. In German.

Notice ending a personal account agreement with a Polish bank or other payment provider: the account number and contract date, termination of the linked card and service agreements too, the account for the remaining balance, and a request to confirm closure. It relies on the Payment Services Act: notice cannot exceed one month, and closing is free unless it happens within the first 6 months.

For the holder of a mobile, landline, broadband or TV line in Spain who wants to cancel and not be charged any more. The letter tells the operator to end the services two working days after receiving it, asks for the reference number, the closing bill and instructions for returning the equipment, and that nothing be charged afterwards. Send it by burofax with certified content, which proves the date from which the operator may no longer bill; you can also use any channel the operator offers. In Spanish.

For the holder of an account with a bank in Spain who wants to close it and not be kept waiting. The letter asks for the account to be closed and the contract ended, the balance transferred to another account, the cards cancelled, new direct debits refused and written confirmation with the final statement. It points out that the holder may close at any time, that the bank must do so within 24 hours, and that it is free if the account is open-ended or over six months old (article 32 of Spain's Royal Decree-Law 19/2018). Hand it in at the branch against a stamped copy, or send it by burofax. In Spanish.

For a private policyholder in France who wants to leave an insurer or mutual insurer. After a year, car insurance and a tenant's home insurance are cancelled by the new insurer, and a policy taken out online can also be cancelled online. This letter offers, as you choose: cancellation at any time, after a year, of another policy, such as supplementary health cover, effective one month after receipt (Article L. 113-15-2 of the French Insurance Code; Article L. 221-10-2 of the Mutual Insurance Code); cancellation at the annual renewal date; or cancellation of loan insurance at any time, with the lender's approval of the new policy (loi Lemoine). In French.

The resolution by which a dormant Cypriot company asks the Registrar of Companies to strike it off the register under section 327 of the Companies Law, Cap. 113: the company's details, the date since which it has had no activity, a statement that it has no assets or debts and has met its obligations, who files the application, and the signatures. The Registrar publishes the coming strike-off in the Official Gazette, and the company is struck off three months later if no one objects. A company with assets or debts needs a liquidation by a licensed insolvency practitioner instead.

An instruction to a Polish bank cancelling a standing order or withdrawing consent to direct debits for a named payee — a telecoms firm, an electricity supplier, a club or a former landlord — with the account number, the payee's details and payment reference, and if needed a request to refund the last debit within 8 weeks. It reminds the reader that cancellation must arrive by the business day before the debit at the latest.

For a mobile operator, an internet or a television service. Ringing the call centre does not terminate a contract — the request has to be in writing and has to leave a trace of having been made. The notice identifies the contract, the service and the termination date, and asks for written confirmation and a final bill, which is exactly what is missing in a later argument about charges.

For a member of a gym or subscriber to a service in Spain (a platform, club, magazine or monthly box) who wants to cancel and stop being charged. The letter gives notice on the date you choose, recalls that the company must allow cancellation by the same means used to sign up and without obstacles or disproportionate charges (art. 62.3 of the Spanish Consumer Protection Act, TRLGDCU), and asks for confirmation and for no further direct debits. Send it by burofax with certified content, which proves the date. In Spanish.

For anyone who received from the Agenzia delle Entrate an assessment, a notice of irregularity or a tax bill with an obvious error: wrong person, calculation error, payment already made and ignored. Before this letter, the free route: the Agency’s CIVIS online service, for notices and bills, and its own fac-simile on plain paper. The request goes to the Agency office that issued the act or, for a tax bill, the one that entered the sums for collection, by PEC, recorded delivery or by hand, with no revenue stamp; it does not suspend the 60 days to appeal.