Chasing a missing document
A chase that fails is almost always a chase that was vague.
Ask for the month, not the document
“A payslip is missing” gets answered with a payslip, often the one you already have. “The July 2026 payslip is missing” gets answered with the July payslip.
The same holds for freshness: “a recent company extract” is not a request, “a company extract less than three months old” is.
Everything in one go
Two successive chases cost a week each. A complete list in one go, however long, costs one week in total.
That is the point of the completeness check: it is not there so you know, it is there so you only ask once.
What a chasing message must never contain
- An amount, even approximate.
- A reference number: account, case or social security.
- An address or a date of birth.
- A file name: it says what you already received, and sometimes from whom.
- A chasing message goes by email, often in copy, sometimes to a third party. It carries only document titles.
Frequently asked questions
- Should chasing be in writing?
- Always: it is what lets you know what was asked and when. And it avoids asking again for something already sent.
- What if the person does not reply?
- Send the same list again, identically, without shortening it. A list that changes between chases makes it look as though nothing is settled.