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Easy AI How-To

BeginnerClaudeDocuments

Explain a bill or official letter

Official letters are written for the organization, not for you. This guide uses the free version of Claude to translate one letter into plain English, then tells you what still has to be checked by a person.

Time
About 10 minutes
Checked
Tool
Claude

If a button name on the screen does not match this guide, follow the action. These products rename buttons often.

Steps

  1. Cover the numbers that are not needed

    Leave the company name, the dates, and the amounts. Cover your full account number, your full Social Security number, and any card number. A summary does not need those. If the letter is from a court or a doctor and you are unsure about sharing it, paste only the paragraph you do not understand.

  2. Open a new Claude chat

    Go to Claude and sign in. The free plan is enough. Claude limits how many messages you can send, and that limit resets on a rolling window of about five hours. One letter will not use it up.

  3. Paste the letter and ask for plain English

    Paste the text under the prompt. If you only have a paper letter, type the important paragraphs. Do not retype a number you already covered.

    Prompt to paste

    Explain this letter or bill in plain English. I will paste it below.

Separate your answer into:
1. What this is
2. What they are asking me to do, and by when
3. Any amount, and what it is for
4. Jargon, with a short meaning
5. What is written in the letter, versus what you are guessing

If a sentence is cut off because I deleted an account number, say so. Do not invent a phone number or a website.

  4. Ask what happens if you do nothing

    Only ask this if the letter talks about a due date, a shutoff, a fine, or a form you must return.

    Prompt to paste

    Based only on this letter, what does it say happens if I miss the date? Quote the sentence. If the letter does not say, answer “The letter does not say.”

  5. Check the phone number yourself

    If you need to call or pay, use a phone number or website printed on a statement you already trust, or look up the organization on its official site. Do not call a number that appears only in the chat. Claude can misread a digit, and a pasted letter can contain a scam number.

  6. Decide the next real-world step

    Pay, call, or file the letter using what you confirmed. If money, a lease, or a legal deadline is involved, the chat is a reading aid, not the person who should decide for you.

Tips

  • A photo of the letter is harder to paste cleanly than text. If the photo is the only copy, read it to someone, or type the two or three sentences that confuse you.

  • The free Claude plan can also search the web, but a search is a bad way to explain your letter. The pasted text is the source. Ask Claude to stick to it.

  • Keep the paper. A clear explanation is not a receipt.

  • ChatGPT and Gemini can do this same job if you already have an account there. The covering-up step does not change.

Common questions

Should I upload the PDF of the bill instead?

You can, if the tool you are using accepts files on the free plan. Pasting the text after you cover account numbers is the more private option, and it is enough for most bills.

The letter says I owe money I do not recognize. Can the chat dispute it?

No. It can help you understand the words and draft a short question. You send the dispute to the company yourself, from a phone number or website you looked up.

What if this is a scam?

Pressure, a threat, and a request to pay by gift card or wire are warning signs. Do not use a link or phone number from the letter until you have checked it against a bill or website you already know.

Claude stopped and said I hit a limit.

The free plan has a usage cap that resets later. Wait, or paste the same prompt into Gemini or ChatGPT. Do not pay for a plan just to finish one letter.

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