What's a cover letter?

  Might be a silly question but I haven't a clue. I'm putting my fiance visa documents in a binder. Not sure what a cover letter is and how should I put all these things in order? should I just put like all the most inportant documents first?

1- cover letter(whatever that is) and index

2-application

3-Biometrics

4-Passports and passport photos

5-My birth certificate

6- His job contract

7-letter from his boss

8- fiance's 6 months payslips

9- Fiance's bank statement #1

10-bank statement #2

11-bank statement #3

12-bank statement #4

13-bank statement #5

14-bank statement #6

15- his P60

16-his CV

17-letter from his parents

18-lease

19-letter from the council

20-Letter from fiance

21-Budget for now

22-future budget

23- few e-mails

24-a couple of ticket stubs

25- 9 pictures

26- Copy's of originals

27-My birth certificate

28- His job contract

29- Fiance's bank statement #1

30-bank statement #2

31-bank statement #3

32-bank statement #4

33-bank statement #5

34-bank statement #6

35- his P60

36-his CV

37-lease

38-letter from the council

39-payslips

Does this look ok?

A cover letter is a letter you include at the beginning that gives an overview of the application, at least this is the case for a job application.

I'm not sure what you would need to include in the letter for the visa application, but as an example, a job application would include a one-page cover letter summarising why you want the job, why you would be good at it, what skills you can bring to it, etc.

You don't need to make copies of the original docs you are sending.

Vicky

If the cover letter goes banging on for more than a page and a half, they will relegate it to an AECO who  will use a yellow highlighter to highlight the relevant bits, and the result is almost always worse.

So a page and a half *MAX*

So, is this cover letter absolutely needed? If so, what exactly do I write?

So, is this cover letter absolutely needed? If so, what exactly do I write?

Considering that you have extenuating circumstances (your financial issues, for one), then yes.  This is your opportunity to clarify any information that isn't immediately clear from your documentation - abnormally large deposits on your bank statements, anything you've thought was perfectly obviously but then had to explain to us here on the forum.  You basically want to build the best case possible for them to grant you the visa, so if you think anything is going to raise a red flag, include a note in the cover letter explaining what's up.

would one want to include any info of a denied entry in the cover letter?

Emphatically yes.

And PLEASE not "denied entry".  That's wrong.  It is "refused leave to enter".  That's a completely different thing.

They will get the transcript anyway, but it is the applicant's opportunity to explain the circumstances and to establish that there was (or was not) an intent to violate the rules.

Something along the lines of "...my previous immigration history includes an incident at Gatwick where I was refused leave to enter as a result of an unsuccessful landing interview.  By way of explanation...  blah blah blah blah...  and blah blah blah blah...  I hope this singular incident will not be assessed severly against this fresh application because there is a substantial change in circumstances and blah blah blah and blah blah blah..."  Done.

And DON'T put the blame on the IO, just leave it neutral and be done with it.

thanks for that!
it seems that i will have to include it to answer question 5.4 have you ever been refused entry on arrival to the uk in the last 10 years..but thought i would explain it in the additional  information at the end?!
i was not planning on putting the blame on the IO,i consider the thing to be poor planning on our part and misunderstanding of the rules in general...she actually was pretty nice after the first half hour or so..or it seemed that she warmed up to me(and ricky after she talked with him) and i felt that it was very clear that i had no intention of violating any rules.
but thank you again!