What Grapple is (and what it is not)

Grapple is an AI law firm for people with a work problem in the UK. You chat about what has happened, and Grapple gives you advice, drafts legal letters, and (on Grapple Negotiate) sends them to your employer on legal headed email.

Grapple is AI. There are no human lawyers reading your chat. Our support team helps with practical and account issues, not legal advice.

Grapple does not attend hearings, does not go on the tribunal record, and does not sign settlement agreements. You stay in charge of your own case. That is often an advantage, because tribunals tend to give people who represent themselves more leeway.

Grapple covers a range of UK legal problems, including employment, consumer and small-money claims, family, insurance and flight-delay claims, and other civil disputes. It does not cover criminal law or personal injury.

Getting started: your first chat

Just type what happened, in your own words. A good first message covers four things:

• What happened, in order, with rough dates.
• How long you have worked there, and whether you are still employed, were dismissed, or resigned.
• What outcome you want (for example an apology, your job back, or a financial settlement).
• Anything you think is unfair or discriminatory, and why.

You do not need your employer's details, your salary, or any paperwork to begin. Grapple asks for what it needs, when it needs it.

One clear ask per message works best. "Please draft a letter to my employer about my unpaid wages" gets you a letter. A long vent gets sympathy and advice, which is fine too, just say clearly when you want Grapple to take an action.

Keep one problem per chat. Grapple remembers everything in the conversation.

Ask clear questions to get clear answers

Grapple is at its best when you are specific. Here are some examples you can copy and change to fit your situation.

I was dismissed two weeks ago after 4 years at my company. Here is what happened, in order, with rough dates. Do I have a case, and what is it worth?

Please explain what this email from my employer's solicitor is actually asking me to do, in plain English.

Please draft a firm but polite reply to this email. I want them to respond within 14 days.

Please tell me whether this document is for my employer, for the tribunal, or just for me to keep.

If a question is vague, you get a vague answer. Instead of "my boss is horrible, can you help", try "I have worked here 3 years and I am still employed. Since January my manager has done the following, with dates. I would like to leave with a settlement. What are my options?"

Plans and fees explained

• Grapple Basic is free. Try Grapple and save your work. There is a daily message limit and no file uploads.
• Grapple Guide is £12 per month. You get unlimited messages and can upload up to 30 pages of evidence, but you send letters yourself.
• Grapple Negotiate costs nothing up front. Grapple sends legal letters for you on legal headed email and supports the negotiation. If you win a financial settlement, the fee is 15% (inclusive of VAT), charged on the ex gratia (compensation) payment plus any notice pay or PILON, and does not include holiday pay (which you keep in full) or the employer's legal-fee contribution (£750 plus VAT). No win, no fee.

The 15% applies only to the ex gratia (compensation) payment plus any notice pay or PILON that you actually receive, not to holiday pay or the employer's legal-fee contribution. If you get nothing, you pay nothing.

You can view and change your plan from the account menu (Change Plan). One important thing about Grapple Negotiate: once Grapple has sent a letter to the other side on your behalf, you cannot cancel or downgrade your Negotiate plan to avoid the success fee. The fee applies to any money you receive in the same dispute until it is finally concluded (a settlement, a COT3, a settlement agreement, or a Tribunal or court award), whether that comes before or after you stop using Grapple and whether or not you later instruct someone else. If you receive nothing, you pay nothing. Before any letter has been sent, you are free to change plans.

Uploading documents

Tap the paperclip in the chat to add evidence. A few simple rules save a lot of frustration:

• Accepted file types are PDF, Word (.docx), JPEG and PNG only.
• You can add up to 5 files at a time.
• Keep each file under about 10 MB. Compress or split large PDFs.
• Convert spreadsheets, .msg emails and iPhone HEIC photos to PDF first, or they will be rejected.

The free Basic plan does not include uploads, so no paperclip appears. That is by design, not a fault. Paid plans include an allowance of 30 pages. On Grapple Negotiate that allowance becomes unlimited once your first letter has been sent. On Grapple Guide the 30 pages is the allowance for the whole case, because you send your letters yourself.

If an upload will not work, it is usually the file type or size. Convert it to a PDF, or compress or split a large file, and try again.

How letter sending works

This is the part people ask about most, so here it is step by step.

1. Ask Grapple to draft your letter. It may ask a few questions first, then the full letter appears in the chat with a Check Letter button underneath it.
2. Press Check Letter. You will see "Checking your letter..." while an AI legal review runs. This can take up to a minute.
3. If the letter needs more work, the button changes to Letter Needs Work. Press it, and the notes underneath tell you exactly what is missing. Answer those questions in the chat, and a fresh draft with a new Check Letter button appears.
4. If the letter passes, you see an Letter Draft showing exactly who it is going to. You are always copied in (BCC), so you get your own copy.
5. Press Approve and Send to send it. Letters go out from [email protected] on Grapple Law's letterhead. Nothing is ever sent until you press the button.

One important tip: if you type anything else after a draft appears, the Check Letter button switches off. If that happens, or if a letter appears with no button at all, just say:

Please output the full letter again ready to send.

A fresh draft with a working button will appear.

Sending evidence with your letter

New: on Grapple Negotiate you can now enclose your own documents as evidence with a letter Grapple sends to the other side. This works for the letters Grapple sends on your behalf, not for advice or letters you send yourself.

How to do it. Upload your document in the chat with the paperclip, as normal. When Grapple drafts your letter it will suggest which of your uploads to enclose, refer to them in the letter, and list them at the end. Next to Check Letter you will see an Add attachments or Manage attachments button: use it to tick exactly which files you want to send, or to upload a new one. Then press Check Letter and Approve and Send, and your chosen files go out with the letter.

What you can send. Up to 5 files and 10 MB in total. PDF, Word and image files (JPEG, PNG) are accepted. Word files are automatically turned into a PDF before sending, so the other side always receives a PDF.

Kept safe. For everyone's protection, Grapple cleans every file before it goes out, so the other side only ever receives a safe, plain version of your document. If a file is password-protected or will not open, Grapple will ask you to re-save it as a plain PDF and upload it again.

A word of caution. Only enclose documents that help your case. Grapple will warn you if a file contains someone else's personal information, is commercially sensitive, or could undermine your position, so read its guidance before you send. If an upload is from before this feature, or was added before you logged in, Grapple will ask you to upload it again so it can be enclosed.

Understand what Grapple gives you

Grapple produces different kinds of documents, and it helps to know who each one is for:

• Guide in the chat is for you, to help you understand your position.
• Letters to your employer or their solicitor are what you send (or Grapple sends on Negotiate) to raise issues, respond, or try to settle.
• Tribunal documents (like your ET1 claim, details of claim, or a witness statement) are for the tribunal, and you submit them yourself.
• Working documents are drafts to save and use later.

If you are ever unsure, just ask Grapple: "Is this meant to be sent by me to the solicitor, is it for the tribunal, or is it just for me to keep?"

Sometimes Grapple will tell you it cannot send a document. That usually means the document is not one to send through Grapple, for example something meant for the tribunal or for you to keep. When that happens, ask Grapple where it should go and what you need to do with it.

Tribunal documents: ACAS and the ET1 form

If your case may go to an employment tribunal, there are a few things worth understanding early.

• Before you can make a tribunal claim, you must contact ACAS for early conciliation. You do this yourself (it takes about 5 minutes), and Grapple guides you through it in the chat. Do not name Grapple as your representative.
• Time limits are strict. From 1st October 2026, you usually have six months less one day from the last incident, but only three months less one day if the last incident happened before 1st October 2026. Negotiating does not pause the clock.
• The ET1 Form tab builds your official claim and fills it in from your chat, so tell Grapple your full story first.
• You need your ACAS early conciliation certificate number to submit. It is on your ACAS certificate, so copy it exactly.
• The "Describe your claim" box has a limit of 2,400 characters. If you paste in more, the extra is quietly cut off. Keep your full version somewhere safe, and ask Grapple to shorten your claim to fit without losing the key facts.

What is an ET1, ET3, or witness statement?

• An ET1 is your claim form. You complete it and submit it to the tribunal.
• An ET3 is your employer's defence. They complete it, not you.
• Witness statements are written evidence for the tribunal, usually exchanged later in the process.

Grapple drafts tribunal documents in your own words for you to submit. It does not write to tribunals or courts on your behalf. Once an ET1 is submitted it cannot be edited, and your confirmation email comes from the government tribunal service, not from Grapple. The ET1 form is much easier to complete on a computer than on a phone.

If your employer or their solicitor does not reply

Silence is common at the start, and sometimes the message is just sitting in their junk folder. Here is what to do:

• Check the Case History tab to confirm your letter was sent (you are also BCC'd on every send, so check your own inbox).
• Ask Grapple to draft a follow up, or to summarise what has happened so far and what your options are next.
• If the other side has ignored a Grapple email for about 7 days, you can ask in the chat for a free chaser letter to be sent by post. Just provide their postal address.

If they stay silent, Grapple will walk you through ACAS and, if needed, a tribunal claim.

Message limits and how to lift them

Free accounts have a daily message limit that resets each day. On paid plans, unlimited messages unlock once you send your first letter. Until then a daily allowance applies. The idea is to nudge you towards the step that actually moves your case forward.

If your chat becomes very long and slow, nothing is lost. Use a computer with Chrome or Edge, give the page a minute to load, stay at the bottom of the chat, and ask Grapple to "continue" rather than scrolling back. Support can also email you a full PDF of your case history at any time.

If something goes wrong: help and support

• Questions about your case: ask in your chat. It knows your case best.
• Practical problems (uploads, forms, sends): email support with your case reference, the exact wording of any error, and a screenshot. If a form field will not accept a correct value, we can often fix it from our side.
• If a letter fails to send with a technical error, do not keep clicking. Email support and we can check the send log and send it manually if needed.
• Feedback: [email protected], or raise it in your chat and the team will see it.
• Want a copy of everything? Ask support for a full PDF export of your case history.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is the send button greyed out or missing?

Usually the letter is not quite ready. Press the Letter Needs Work button and the notes underneath tell you what is missing. Answer them in the chat and a fresh draft with a new Check Letter button appears. If you typed something after the draft, or there is no button at all, just say: "please output the full letter again ready to send".

I am paying, so why do I have a daily message limit?

Every case has a daily message allowance until the first letter is sent. Sending your first letter unlocks unlimited messages on that case. Until then, the allowance resets each day.

Why will my document not upload?

Grapple accepts PDF, Word (.docx), JPEG and PNG only, up to 5 files at a time, and each file should be under about 10 MB. Convert spreadsheets, .msg emails and HEIC photos to PDF, and compress or split large files, then try again.

Why can I not see an upload button?

The free Basic plan does not include file uploads, so no paperclip is shown. Upgrade to a paid plan to upload your evidence.

Will a human lawyer take over my case?

No. Grapple is AI and helps you run your own case: advice, letters, negotiation, and tribunal paperwork. Grapple does not attend hearings or go on the tribunal record. On Grapple Negotiate, when a settlement offer arrives, a member of the team can arrange a call about the practical next steps.

Who does my letter actually come from?

From Grapple Law, sent from [email protected] on legal letterhead, after you press Approve and Send. You are BCC'd on every send, so check your own inbox and the Case History tab to confirm.

What does the 15% fee apply to?

On Grapple Negotiate you pay nothing up front. If you receive a financial settlement, the fee is 15% (inclusive of VAT), charged on the ex gratia (compensation) payment plus any notice pay or PILON, and does not include holiday pay (which you keep in full) or the employer's legal-fee contribution (£750 plus VAT). If you win nothing, you pay nothing.

Can I cancel or downgrade Grapple Negotiate?

You can change your plan from the account menu before any letter has been sent. Once Grapple has sent a letter to the other side on your behalf, you cannot cancel or downgrade your Negotiate plan to avoid the success fee. The fee applies to any money you receive in the same dispute until it is finally concluded (a settlement, a COT3, a settlement agreement, or a Tribunal or court award), even if you stop using Grapple or later instruct someone else. There is nothing to pay unless you receive money, and the 15% only applies to the ex gratia payment plus any notice pay or PILON you actually receive, not holiday pay or the employer's legal-fee contribution.

Does Grapple send letters by post?

Grapple works by email. The one exception is a free postal chaser: if the other side has ignored a Grapple email for about 7 days, ask in the chat and Grapple can post a reminder letter for you.

Can Grapple submit my tribunal claim or write to the tribunal?

Grapple helps you build your ET1 in the ET1 Form tab and drafts tribunal documents in your own words, but you submit them yourself and you deal with the tribunal yourself. Newer case numbers must be handled through the tribunal's online portal.

Why did my ET1 claim text get cut off?

The "Describe your claim" box holds a maximum of 2,400 characters, and anything longer is trimmed when you paste. Keep your full version elsewhere and ask Grapple to shorten it to fit without losing the key facts.

My chat is very long and slow. Have I lost my case?

No, nothing is lost. Use a computer with Chrome or Edge, give the page a minute, stay at the bottom of the chat and ask Grapple to "continue". Support can also email you a complete PDF of your case history.

Can I get a copy of everything Grapple has sent for me?

Yes. You are BCC'd on every letter, and support can email you a full PDF export of your case history: every letter, reply and upload in date order.

How do I give feedback?

Feedback goes to [email protected], or you can raise it in your chat and the team will see it.