Complaints and appeals
Any business assessed under the Digital Trust Audit Standard may dispute a finding, a score, an accreditation level, a withdrawal or an entry on the register. This page sets out who hears a dispute, how long it takes, and what the outcomes can be.
What can be disputed
A finding
an area score or the overall score
an accreditation level
a step-down or a withdrawal
an entry on the register
the conduct of an assessment
How to raise it
Email appeals@digitaltrustaudit.co.uk from the assessed business’s own domain, naming the assessment reference on the report and stating what is disputed and why. Evidence may be attached and is read.
There is no fee for raising a dispute at any stage.
The timescales
| Stage | Who | Timescale |
|---|---|---|
| Acknowledgement | Digital Trust Audit | 2 working days from receipt |
| Review | A person who did not carry out the assessment under dispute | 10 working days from acknowledgement |
| Decision | Issued in writing, with the reason for each disputed item | At the end of the review |
| Final appeal | A director, on the papers | 10 working days from a request made within 20 working days of the decision |
Where a dispute cannot be decided inside these periods, the business is told the reason and given a revised date before the original one passes.
The possible outcomes
The finding stands, with the reason stated.
The finding is amended and the report reissued with a new date. A reissued report replaces the original; the original is not quietly edited.
The score is recalculated and, where it crosses a threshold, the accreditation level is changed.
A withdrawal is reversed and the register entry restored, with the period of withdrawal shown.
The assessment is set aside and re-run at no charge.
While a dispute is open
An accreditation is not withdrawn while a dispute against that withdrawal is being heard, unless the withdrawal was triggered by a hard-floor breach. Hard-floor breaches take effect immediately and are reversed if the dispute succeeds, with the register showing the correction.
When we get it wrong
An assessment that is found to have been wrong is corrected, reissued and, where it was published, corrected on the register with the date. Corrections are not removed from the register afterwards.
Review
Every dispute and its outcome is recorded. The record exists so that recurring disputes about the same criterion can be read as a problem with the criterion rather than with the businesses raising them, and the standard is revised where that is what the record shows.
What this route does not cover
It is not a route for a third party to challenge another business’s accreditation on grounds unrelated to the criteria. Where a third party believes an accredited business no longer meets the hard floor, that is raised at audit@digitaltrustaudit.co.uk and is treated as evidence for the next assessment rather than as an appeal.
The levels and the hard floor are on the accreditation page.
A dispute route that is published is the point.
No fee at any stage, a reviewer who did not carry out the assessment, and stated timescales.
Request an audit