🔎 FINDOUTOLOGY™ — THE 9 PHASES OF A CASE A case doesn't start with “They're wrong!” 😂 It starts with: “Okay… show me.” This is the 9-phase method we're using to stop drowning in emails and turn a mountain of paperwork into something you can actually follow. 1. IDENTIFY — What actually happened? Strip the story back and identify the event, decision, transaction or record we're questioning. 2. REQUEST — Get the records. SARs, correspondence, decisions, calculations, notes, recordings — whatever should evidence what happened. 3. EXTRACT — Pull out the important bits: dates, names, amounts, reference numbers, system entries and statements. No conclusions yet. Just what does the record actually say? 4. COMPARE — Put observable evidence vs what we're being told side by side. Do they match? If not, there's our question. 5. SUBSTANTIATE — The magic word. 🪄 Don't argue. Ask: “What contemporaneous record substantiates that statement?” Look for the source record, calculation, authority, audit trail, provenance or decision record. 6. RECONCILE 🔥 — This is where my DWP/ICE case is now. We've gathered and extracted the records and asked for substantiation. Now we're resolving what matches, what contradicts, what remains unanswered and what simply isn't held. In my case, ICE has already issued its Final Decision, but I've subsequently asked what underlying evidence was actually examined — including telephone/authentication records, financial calculations, medical evidence, Decision Maker records and audit/provenance material. 7. ESCALATE — Only after reconciliation. Take the clean evidence, not the kitchen sink, to the appropriate complaint, regulator, ombudsman, tribunal or other remedy route. 8. REMEDY — What actually needs putting right? Correction, disclosure, reconsideration, apology, repayment/redress or another appropriate remedy depending on what the evidence establishes. 9. CLOSE & ARCHIVE — Index the final evidence, outcome and unanswered points. Record what was established and what wasn't. Then shut the cupboard. 😂