Short answer
It is not technically required, but many government offices, law firms and hospital departments set aside a fax that arrives without one. MondialFax offers a free PDF cover sheet generator, to place as the first page of your document.
Not required, but often essential
Nothing technically stops you sending a fax without a cover sheet. But a shared fax machine receives pages from all sorts of senders: without a first page saying who the fax is for and what it is about, your document may be set aside. Government offices, law firms and hospital departments almost always expect one.
What it should include
The sender and their contact details, the recipient and their department, the date, the subject, the total number of pages and, where relevant, your file reference: benefits claimant number, social security number, case number or customer number. A “confidential” notice is useful when the document is confidential.
The page count lets the recipient check they have received everything; the reference lets them match your fax to the right file.
Creating one for free
The MondialFax cover sheet generator produces a PDF from a few fields, with no registration. Place it as the first page of your document: it counts towards the 5 pages of the send.
Key points
- Not technically required, but often expected.
- Sender, recipient, date, subject, page count, reference.
- Free PDF generator on the site.
- It counts towards the 5 pages of the send.