If we refuse your application for ACS approval
How you can appeal against our decision to refuse your ACS application.
Appealing an SIA decision
You have the right of appeal against any decision we make to:
- refuse approval
- attach additional conditions to an approval
- withdraw an approval
We will always explain the process for making an appeal if we write to you with an appealable decision.
We will always give you the opportunity to respond to us in writing. We will consider your response before we make a final decision.
If your application is refused
We will refuse your application if you cannot show that you meet our fit and proper conditions, or do not conform to the ACS standard.
If we decide to refuse your approval, we will write to you to explain why.
You will then have 21 calendar days to respond to us. We will explain what information you need to send with your response. If we do not get a reply from you within 21 days, we are likely to refuse your application.
If you think we have based our decision on information that is wrong, you should send us the correct information within 21 days.
If you cannot send us all the necessary information within 21 days, you should let us know within this time limit. In certain situations, we can allow you to have more time.
If you send in a response within 21 days we will look at the information you’ve given us. We will then let you know our decision on whether to refuse your application.
Making a court appeal
You can make a formal appeal to the Magistrates’ court (or the Sheriff in Scotland) within 21 calendar days from the date we give you our decision. In cases where the Magistrates’ court (or the Sheriff in Scotland) makes a decision, we or you may appeal that decision to the Crown Court (or the Sheriff Principal in Scotland).
The court may charge you a fee to lodge an appeal. If you lose that appeal, the court may order you to pay costs to us.
Providing mitigating evidence
If we decide to refuse your approval application, we will invite you to give us any mitigation you would like us to consider in your case.
We will give more weight to your mitigation if it is from an independent, verifiable, and objective source with no vested interest in the approval decision. What we mean by ‘no vested interest’ is that information from people of standing in the community will be more persuasive than information from your family, friends, employees, or colleagues.
Mitigation may include, for example:
- you can show that you’ve taken action to correct the problem
- you can show that the problem is uncharacteristic of your business
- you can provide some other information to show that your business is, meets our fit and proper conditions and conforms to the ACS standard