AI by NicheJob 3 of 7ChatGPTGemini
Draft your reply to an offer of a low assessment fee, and your payment chase for an unpaid invoice, from your own minimum fee and terms
In two 2025 LinkedIn threads, commenters who describe themselves as assessors say they are being offered work at low fees and blame installers and middlemen. A short, steady reply that states your own minimum fee and what it covers lets you decline or counter without a long email chain, and a polite chase with the date and amount typed in keeps payment on track. AI drafts both from the figures and dates you type. It never does arithmetic or counts days, and never writes anything about an assessment, evidence or what you saw on site; the fee, the cut-off and the decision to work for an installer or middleman are yours.
Time: About 10 minutes per message once your lines are savedTool cost: you can start with a free AI tool
Steps
- Write your own minimum fee for each job type and what it includes, in one or two lines, and your payment terms (days to pay, how, late payment interest if you charge it). Decide these before you reply to anyone.
- For a fee offer, note in your own words, without names, the fee offered and your decision: decline, counter with your own figure, or accept a different scope. Write the counter figure yourself.
- Paste your fee lines, the offer and your decision into the prompt to get a reply of no more than 120 words. For a payment chase, paste the invoice number, amount and due date as you typed them, and the stage (friendly reminder, firm reminder or final notice) with your own stage wording.
- Read each draft, add names and details by hand, and delete anything that describes the work or makes a threat you will not carry out. For late commercial payments, check GOV.UK for interest and recovery costs before you quote any figure.
- Send from your own email, diary the next step, and keep a copy with the job record. Set your fee on your own and do not agree fees with other assessors.
The exact prompt
I am a domestic energy assessor in England. Below are my own fee lines, a fee that has been offered to me or an invoice that is overdue, and what I have decided to do. Task: for a FEE OFFER, draft a reply of no more than 120 words in plain English, polite and firm, that thanks them for the offer, states my minimum fee and what it covers exactly as I give it, and says [DECISION: decline / my counter figure / accept different scope] exactly as I give it. For a PAYMENT CHASE, draft a short email of no more than 100 words for the stage I name, that states the invoice number, amount and due date exactly as typed, repeats my payment terms exactly as I give them, and asks them to pay by [DATE]. Do not do any arithmetic or count days, do not quote any interest or late-payment figure unless I type it, do not threaten any action I have not named, and do not mention any assessment, evidence, photographs, ratings, scheme or standard. End with [SIGN-OFF]. RULES FOR THIS CHAT: I will give you only my own text, headings, dates and figures that I have typed in. I have not included, and will not include, any occupier or customer name, address, email or phone number, any property address, photograph, floor plan, site note, measurement, evidence file, certificate or report, any EPC or retrofit assessment data, any scheme login, password or lodgement detail, or any other personal or confidential information. Use the blanks [OCCUPIER], [CLIENT], [PROPERTY] and [JOB REF] only. Do not ask for them and do not invent any. You have no part in any assessment: do not carry out, check, correct or comment on any survey, RdSAP or SAP data, calculation, condition or ventilation finding, evidence, floor plan or rating, do not say whether any evidence is enough, and do not complete, word or comment on any declaration or lodgement. Do not say what any scheme, regulator or standard requires. Do not do arithmetic or count dates: copy every figure and date exactly as I typed it, and leave totals for me. Where a fact, date or decision is needed, leave the field blank or write [ASSESSOR TO COMPLETE]. Everything you write is a blank layout or a draft that I will read, complete and approve myself. MY FEE LINES AND TERMS: [PASTE] OFFER OR OVERDUE INVOICE (typed by me, no names): [PASTE] STAGE AND MY WORDING FOR IT: [PASTE]
✓ Check before you send
- Every figure, date and term in the draft is exactly what you typed: the AI added no interest figure, no deadline and no arithmetic of its own.
- The message does not describe the work, the evidence or what you saw on site, and does not mention any scheme rule.
- You checked GOV.UK before quoting any interest or recovery cost on a late commercial payment, and the stage of the chase matches your own diary.
- The message is about your own price and invoice only: it does not suggest or agree fees with anyone else.
- No customer, installer, property or invoice detail went into the AI tool beyond the figures you typed.
UK notes extra
- UK: GOV.UK explains when a commercial payment is late and how to claim interest and debt recovery costs. Check the page before you quote any figure; this job does not state any. GOV.UK: late commercial payments, charging interest and debt recovery (UK).
- A payment chase or fee reply to a business is not a marketing email; if you add an offer, a promotion or general news to it, the ICO’s page on electronic mail marketing sets out PECR rules for individuals and companies. ICO: electronic mail marketing (PECR, UK).
- Elmhurst Energy’s Code of Conduct (one scheme’s code) says “The member shall not share their Elmhurst Energy login details with any other parties. Members are always responsible for lodgements and/or submissions under their account.” Nothing in a fee or payment message should involve your scheme login or any lodgement. Elmhurst Energy: Code of Conduct, OP03_v33, February 2026 (PDF; one accreditation scheme’s code, used as a worked example).
- Customer names and invoice details can be personal data. This page tells you to keep them out of any AI tool; if you ever decide otherwise, the ICO’s guidance on AI and data protection is the place to start, and your scheme’s code is the other thing to read first. ICO: guidance on AI and data protection (UK).
- Silence is not permission: no scheme document read mentions AI. This job uses AI only to word your own fee and payment lines; ask your scheme if you are unsure. EASOB: documents for accreditation schemes and assessors (home page; lists the Scheme Operating Requirements and the Minimum Evidence Requirements).
- Practitioner voice, 2025, commenters who describe themselves as assessors and lead generators: they report low offered fees and blame installers and middlemen; their roles are self-described and the figures are theirs, so this page quotes none. Zish Ellahi, LinkedIn post on low fees for Retrofit Assessments, 4 April 2025, with 25 comments (commenters describe themselves as assessors; LinkedIn may ask you to sign in). Ben Wheeler, LinkedIn post on retrofit assessments, 10 July 2025, with a commenter (LinkedIn may ask you to sign in).
Last reviewed Oct 2026. Free tools change. If a screen looks different, the steps still apply.Back to top ↑