How to follow up on pending scheme and damage claims with AI

You sent the claims weeks ago. A display scheme, a case scheme, some damaged stock. The credit notes haven't come.

You call the area sales manager. They say "send me the list". So you write an email, and you add up the claims by hand. One wrong number, and the whole email looks careless.

AI can write this email for you. But AI is not good at adding up or counting days. So you do those two things first, and the AI writes the words.

Before you ask the AI

Make a list of your pending claims. For each one, note the scheme, the period, the amount, the date you sent it and the claim reference.

Then work out three things yourself, in Excel or on a calculator:

• the total of all the claims
• how many days each claim has been pending
• which claim is the oldest

For example, as on 22 Sep 2026:

Claim	Ref	Amount	Sent on	Pending
Tea display scheme, Jul 2026	CLM-0815	₹12,500	5 Aug 2026	48 days
Detergent case scheme, Aug 2026	CLM-0822	₹21,750	3 Sep 2026	19 days
Damaged stock, Aug 2026	CLM-0830	₹4,380	10 Sep 2026	12 days

Total pending: ₹38,630. Oldest claim: CLM-0815, 48 days.

What to ask

Copy this into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini. Put your own details in the brackets.

Write a polite follow-up email to our area sales manager about claims that haven't been paid.

Send to: [Mr Menon, Area Sales Manager, Nirjhar Home Care]
As on: [22 Sep 2026]
Sign as: [your firm's name]

Claims:
1. [Tea display scheme], [Jul 2026] ([CLM-0815]): [₹12,500, pending 48 days]
2. [Detergent case scheme], [Aug 2026] ([CLM-0822]): [₹21,750, pending 19 days]
3. [Damaged stock], [Aug 2026] ([CLM-0830]): [₹4,380, pending 12 days]

Total pending: [₹38,630]
Oldest claim: [CLM-0815, 48 days]

Rules:
- Subject line: the number of claims and the total.
- List each claim on its own line, exactly as I wrote it.
- After the list, copy the total and the oldest claim exactly.
- Don't do any sums yourself. Copy my figures.
- Ask what else they need from us, and when the credit notes will come.
- Don't promise anything, don't threaten, and don't mention stopping sales or legal action.
- Don't quote any agreement or policy.
- Under 200 words.

What to check

Put the email next to your claim list. Check these four things:

1. Every claim is there. Count the lines. Three claims in your list means three lines in the email.
2. References. Each claim reference should match your records. The company will search by this number.
3. The total. It should be your total, word for word. If the AI changed it, put yours back.
4. The tone. It should be polite and firm. Remove any line that sounds like a threat or a complaint.

Why this works

The AI only copies your figures. It doesn't add them up, so the total can't be wrong because of the AI.

Each claim has its own line and reference. The manager can check each one without asking you again. And the question at the end, "what else do you need?", makes it easy for them to reply.

Keep the same list for next month. Update the days, add new claims, remove the paid ones, and ask again.