Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to help with your complaint

Some customers choose to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools, such as online chatbots or writing assistants, to help draft emails, letters or forms. You are welcome to use these tools if you find them helpful.

What matters most is that your complaint clearly explains what happened, how it affected you, and what you would like us to do. Complaints written in plain English are often the easiest for us to understand and respond to.

Making a clear complaint

You do not need legal language or a long, formal letter for your complaint to be taken seriously.

When making a complaint, it helps if you tell us:

• What went wrong - what happened and which service or decision you are unhappy with.
• When it happened - dates and times if you know them.
• How it affected you - the impact on you or your household.
• What you would like us to do - for example, provide an explanation, apologise, correct a mistake, or take a specific action.

A short and focused complaint is often enough for us to understand the issues and investigate them properly.

Using AI to help write your complaint

Many people find AI useful for organising their thoughts or producing a first draft. However, it is important to check that any information generated is accurate and reflects your own experience.

AI-generated text can sometimes:

• be longer or more complicated than necessary
• include information that is not relevant to your complaint
• contain inaccurate information
• make it harder to identify the main issues you want us to consider.

Before submitting a complaint, we recommend reviewing any AI-generated content carefully and making sure it accurately reflects your concerns.

We will not reject a complaint simply because AI has been used. However, if your complaint is unclear or difficult to understand, we may contact you for clarification or help you agree a concise summary of the issues you would like us to investigate.

If we need clarification before progressing your complaint through the formal complaints process, we will let you know.

Protecting your personal information

Many AI tools are provided by third-party organisations and may use information entered into them for their own purposes.

If you choose to use AI, we recommend that you:

• avoid entering sensitive personal information into AI tools
• use titles rather than names such as "council officer", "family member" or "neighbour" when drafting
• add personal details only when submitting your complaint directly to Derby City Council.

For information about how we handle your personal information, please see our privacy information.

Helpful ways to use AI

If you decide to use AI, it can be helpful for:

• organising your thoughts
• putting events into date order
• summarising lengthy notes
• removing repetition and simplifying language
• producing a short, clear draft complaint.

You might use prompts such as:

"Help me write a clear and polite complaint in plain English. Please focus on what happened, how it affected me, and the outcome I am seeking."

"Summarise my notes into a short complaint using clear language and avoiding unnecessary detail."

We recommend checking the final version carefully and making any changes needed to ensure it accurately reflects your own experience.

How we will handle your complaint

Whether your complaint is written by you, prepared with the help of AI, or a combination of both, we will:

• read it carefully
• identify the issues you are raising
• investigate your concerns in line with our complaints process
• respond in clear and straightforward language.

We may contact you if we need you to:

• clarify the issues you would like us to investigate
• confirm the outcome you are seeking
• provide additional information relevant to your complaint.

This helps us make sure we understand your concerns and can provide a fair and meaningful response.