Start here
Read these four first. They say what Crimson Horse is, the order of work to go live, who should receive which note, and what the first operator does in week one.
What the finished product is
Crimson Horse in plain English: Extract, Data Bridge, Calculator, valuation report. Written for a boss or a new reader who has not seen the Agent.
Delivery plan
Exactly who does what, and when, to make the product usable then sellable. Policy for when the solicitor changes the method. Verdict on the Calculator: right host for bills, not yet able to switch Wood / fair-cost / two interest rates on instruction.
Next steps to launch
The working order: freeze the Calculator, name the first operator and reviewer, get one complete energy case, run Extract, fill only evidenced blanks, then issue a draft. Also lists what is not a next step.
Which note to give to whom
A one-page map: solicitor, operator, reviewer, boss, sales, lead provider. Start here if you are handing notes out.
First week on a desk
What the first operator does day by day: install, a dry run on the sample pack, extract one live case, wait for missing pages, then four-eyes review. The aim of the week is one clean case, not speed.
Run a case
The notes an operator and reviewer use on a live file, in the order they are needed: what to collect, how the folder is run, what arrives after upload, then the ticks before a draft leaves the desk.
Documents for one case
What to ask for: contract or welcome letter, letter of authority if a broker was used, consecutive bills, renewal quotes. Which of those are essential, and what job each one does.
How one-case mode works
One client, one folder, only that client’s papers. Wrong file types are held out. This is how a case is run today.
Why one case at a time
Why mixing twenty clients in one pile costs more than it saves: one stray mortgage file or the wrong bill can land in the wrong report.
The report after files are uploaded
Explains the intake report: file count, page count, document types, and the missing-pack list. This is what the operator reads before anyone opens the Calculator.
Go-live checklist
A tick sheet for the folder, the Data Bridge, the Calculator and the report. If a box cannot be ticked, the draft stays on the desk. Use this every time, not only on the first case.
Four-eyes tick sheet
The one-page form the second person completes before a draft leaves the desk. Names, meters, dates, units, rates, blanks, and that no rate was invented. A draft without this sheet is not issued.
What stops a bad number
The fail-safes: no default rates, solicitor-instruction gate, AppleDouble discarded, mortgage files held out, four-eyes tick, estimated bills marked as estimated.
Missing bills
When monthly bills are absent, a month can only be estimated from the annual usage figure if the solicitor has instructed that. The row is marked as estimated. Totals are never invented.
Commission and interest — solicitor instruction
What a solicitor’s written instruction must contain before Extract will apply a commission percentage or an interest rate. No instruction, no assumed rate.
The working files
The tools themselves: the Calculator, the empty Data Bridge, the list of facts Extract looks for, and how to run it.
Crimson Horse calculator
The Excel workbook that does the sums. It only calculates from numbers that are already in the Data Bridge. If a fair rate or commission is blank, that method stays blank.
Crimson Horse data bridge — empty template
The blank Excel workbook the Agent fills. Each row is one contract or one bill. A person checks this file before any money figure is treated as ready.
What Extract looks for
Every piece of information Extract tries to copy from a contract or a bill — meter number, dates, unit rate, standing charge, units used — and which Bridge cell it should land in. If it is not on the page, the cell stays empty.
How to run Extract
The commands for one case or a folder of cases, including the brand file and the solicitor-instruction file. Hard rules sit at the top: no invented rates, mortgage files held out, AppleDouble files discarded.
Example solicitor instruction
The gate for commission, interest and estimated bills. Extract will not apply those assumptions unless a file like this, tied to a solicitor note, is on the case.
Example brand file
A small settings file Extract reads so reports and headers can show a client’s name and colours. Copy it, change the name, keep the rest unless new colours have been agreed.
Examples
Worked files from earlier packs. Teaching material only — not a live report to issue.
Sample intake report
What Extract produces as soon as a folder is uploaded: how many files arrived, how many pages, what types, and what is still missing.
Sample data bridge
A one-case run using a contract, a bill and a letter of authority. Open this to see Extract’s output before you point it at a live folder.
Crimson Horse data bridge — worked example
The Data Bridge after the files already reviewed were put through Extract. Empty cells are listed with the action against each one.
Sample valuation report
An early write-up used to settle the report layout: plain English, tables, document list, blanks and next steps. A pattern, not a finished case.
Quantum valuation — Carlin How
Full hybrid report for the Pozitive contracts. Facts from the 27 July 2026 opinion and JDH totals. Working Wood net £24,989.01. Every assumption (40%, 6%, 6.00 years) is named. Nothing else is invented.
Wood method note — Carlin How
Shorter working of the same A, C, 40% and 6% arithmetic. Use the valuation report above as the full write-up.
Wood method note — Centurion Blast
Earlier Engie fill from Mersenne as cited: 8% and 40%, net £82,419.25. Kept for comparison. Not used in the Carlin How table.
Sample screening note — catering business
A shorter, triage-style note from an earlier example. Useful if you want to see the lighter report, not the full valuation.
Sample multi-site write-up
A worked illustration of the multi-site layout. Teaching file only.
Templates
Blank Word shells. Use a current Crimson Horse template for new work. Earlier versions are kept only so you can compare.
Valuation template — current
The live shell for a full valuation: plain English, tables, document list, blanks, risks and glossary. This is the one to fill for a new case.
Report template — current
The sister shell of the same hybrid structure. Use either current template; do not mix an old version into a new case.
Multi-site template — with document list
For a business with more than one meter or site, plus the table that lists every file used. Prefer this when the pack is large.
Multi-site template
The same valuation, laid out for more than one supply. Use when the papers cover more than one site.
Earlier template — kept for comparison
A previous full shell. Do not use for a live draft.
Earlier template
An older shell. Archive only.
Earlier template
An older shell. Archive only.
Outside the firm
What you send to lead providers, buyers, or a client who will put their own name on the work.
Lead provider engagement note
The rules of engagement, written so a lead company knows exactly what to send. If they cannot meet the list, they will know before they submit the case.
Crimson Horse screen
The yes-or-no tool you can sell to lead providers. It tells them whether a case is worth sending, and what else they still need to get.
Crimson Horse screen — briefing
The longer sell note for Screen. It can list gaps and, only when rates are on the page, an indicative figure. It is not a guarantee of claim value.
Commercial and operating pack
How the Agent is run on a desk, how more than one machine is used, and the commercial idea (seats, pods, white-label).
Pricing suggestions
Suggested prices for a seat, a pod of machines, Screen, and a white-label copy. Suggestions only — not an offer.
Putting a client’s name on the work
How a sold copy can show the client’s name and colours, and what can be locked. Passwords slow a copier down; they do not make a file impossible to copy.
Keep it current
For the person who owns the product. Start with The weekly review — that is the standing rule. Then readiness and open tasks.
The weekly review
What the weekly review is, why it exists, and the rules: agree, later date, or reject for this week only. A rejection comes back the following week. No silent change. No invented rates. No live-case decisions in the meeting.
What the product is, and what is ready
The five parts in plain English, plus the honest list of what is still blocked (every supplier layout, full email parse, a batch of twenty live cases).
Open tasks
A short split of work while the next energy packs are awaited: what you send, what Extract already does, and what happens when the next files land.
Your tasks and mine
The same split in more detail. Use this if two people are sharing the build.
Catalogue of Crimson Horse documents
A list of the description documents that already exist, so colleagues are not writing another version of the same note.