If you receive a DBS certificate that you believe contains inaccurate information, you have the right to raise a dispute with the Disclosure and Barring Service. For Enhanced checks, there is an additional right of referral to an independent reviewer where information has been disclosed at the discretion of a chief officer of police.
This guide explains what the dispute process involves, the grounds on which a dispute can be raised, who the Independent Monitor is and what they do, and what happens when a dispute is resolved.
When You Can Raise a Dispute
You can raise a dispute with the DBS if you believe the information on your certificate is factually inaccurate. The most common grounds for dispute include: a conviction or caution being attributed to you that belongs to someone else; incorrect personal details such as a wrong date of birth or name; information appearing that you believe has been filtered under the DBS filtering rules; or a conviction appearing that has been legally overturned or quashed.
A dispute is not the appropriate route if you simply wish the information were not on your record. The DBS can only correct factual errors. It cannot remove information that is accurate, even if the conviction is old, minor, or you feel it is irrelevant to the role you are applying for.
For Enhanced checks, there is a separate right of referral to the Independent Monitor where you believe information has been wrongly disclosed under the chief officer power. This is distinct from the dispute process and is described in its own section below.
If the dispute results in a revised certificate, or if you need to apply for a fresh check, see our self-employed DBS checks page for how to apply.
How to Raise a Dispute With the DBS
To raise a dispute, you contact the DBS directly by phone or in writing with details of the error and the evidence that supports your position. Contact details for the DBS disputes team are available on GOV.UK.
You should have your certificate to hand when making contact, as you will need to provide the certificate reference number, the date of issue, and details of what you believe is incorrect. The clearer and more specific you can be about the nature of the error, the more efficiently the DBS can investigate.
If the error relates to a conviction being attributed to you that belongs to someone else, or to a conviction record that you believe is factually wrong, you may also need to contact the relevant police force or court system to address the underlying record. The DBS works from the records it receives; if those records are themselves wrong, the correction may need to be made at the source before the DBS can issue a corrected certificate.
It is worth raising a dispute as soon as possible after receiving the certificate. If you intend to share the certificate with a client or employer, raising the dispute first gives you the opportunity to resolve any error before sharing, rather than having to explain an ongoing dispute after the fact.
What Happens During a DBS Dispute Investigation
Once a dispute is raised, the DBS investigates the information on the certificate against its source data. For conviction and caution records, this involves checking the Police National Computer and any other relevant databases used in producing the certificate.
If the DBS confirms that an error has occurred, they will issue a corrected certificate free of charge. The original certificate remains in existence as a document but the corrected version supersedes it. You should share only the corrected certificate with any employer or client.
If the DBS investigation concludes that the information on the certificate is accurate, they will advise you of this. The certificate stands as issued and no corrected version will be produced. You can ask for the reasons for this outcome and, in some cases, raise a formal complaint if you believe the investigation was not conducted properly.
Dispute timescales are not fixed and vary depending on the nature of the dispute and the sources that need to be checked. The DBS will advise on the expected timeframe when the dispute is acknowledged.
Disputes About Filtering
If information has appeared on your Standard or Enhanced DBS certificate that you believe should have been filtered under the DBS filtering rules, you can raise this as a specific type of dispute.
The DBS filtering rules provide for certain old, minor convictions and cautions to be removed from Standard and Enhanced certificates after a set period. The rules apply automatically during processing, but errors can occur. If a conviction that meets the filtering criteria has been disclosed when it should not have been, the DBS can investigate and issue a corrected certificate if the filtering rules confirm it should be removed.
It is important to understand that the filtering rules are applied to the certificate at the point of issue. You cannot ask for information to be filtered retrospectively outside the dispute process. If you believe a conviction qualifies for filtering and has not been filtered, the dispute route is the correct way to raise this.
Decisions about what information should or should not be filtered are ultimately governed by the legislation and the specific criteria set out in the filtering rules. The DBS applies those rules to the information it holds. If there is a genuine error in that application, it can be corrected through the dispute process.
There is also an argument for being proactive about this with clients during the initial conversation about working together. If you mention early that you are in the process of applying for an Enhanced DBS check and give an expected timeline, the client has realistic expectations from the start. This is a more professional approach than waiting to be asked about your DBS status at a moment when the timing may be more awkward.
For self-employed workers who intend to take on more than one or two clients per year, the longer-term solution is to hold a current Enhanced DBS certificate registered with the DBS Update Service. This means that when a new client asks for a DBS check, the response is not ‘I am applying for one’ but ‘I have a current certificate and here is how you can check it’. That is a significantly more reassuring position for a client to hear.
The Independent Monitor and Enhanced Check Disclosures
For Enhanced DBS checks, there is a power that allows the chief officer of a police force to disclose information held locally that has not resulted in a conviction or charge. This is sometimes called soft intelligence or chief officer information. Before disclosure, the applicant is notified and given the opportunity to make representations.
If a chief officer proceeds with a disclosure despite your representations, or if you receive a certificate with chief officer information and believe it should not have been disclosed, you can refer your case to the Independent Monitor.
The Independent Monitor is an independent person appointed under the Police Act 1997. Their function is to review the decision made by the chief officer and determine whether the disclosure was appropriate and proportionate. They are not part of the DBS or the police. Their role is specifically to provide an independent check on chief officer disclosure decisions.
If the Independent Monitor concludes that the information should not have been disclosed, they can direct the DBS to issue a new certificate without that information. If they conclude that the disclosure was appropriate, the certificate stands.
Referrals to the Independent Monitor must be made within three months of the certificate being issued. The referral process is managed through the DBS website. Given the complexity of this process and its potential implications, seeking legal advice before proceeding is worth considering.
For more on what an Enhanced DBS check includes and how it differs from a Standard check, see our Enhanced DBS checks page.
What to Tell an Employer or Client While a Dispute Is in Progress
Deciding whether to share a certificate while a dispute is ongoing is your choice. There is no requirement to share the certificate with a client or employer before the dispute is resolved, and doing so means they will see the information you are disputing.
If you are in an ongoing engagement and the client has already seen the certificate, being transparent about the fact that a dispute is in progress is generally the most sensible approach. Most reasonable clients will appreciate being informed rather than finding out later that a dispute was in progress at the time they reviewed the certificate.
If you are applying for new engagements and have not yet shared the certificate, waiting for the outcome of the dispute before sharing is a reasonable course of action, provided any delay in presenting the certificate does not breach a contractual or regulatory requirement.
The DBS dispute process exists to protect applicants from the consequences of inaccurate information. It is a legitimate process and using it is not in itself an indication of anything concerning about the applicant. Being open about the fact that you have raised a dispute, and providing the corrected certificate when it is issued, is the most transparent way to handle the situation.
Common Questions About DBS Disputes
- How long does a DBS dispute take to resolve?
The DBS does not publish a fixed timescale for dispute resolution. In practice, straightforward disputes involving factual errors, such as an incorrect date or a misattributed conviction, may be resolved relatively quickly. More complex disputes, particularly those involving Enhanced check disclosures being reviewed by the Independent Monitor, can take several months. The DBS will advise on the expected timescale when a dispute is raised.
- Can I work while my dispute is being investigated?
Whether you can work while a dispute is pending depends on the employer or client’s decision, not the DBS process. The DBS does not make decisions about employment or engagement. If a client has seen a certificate with disclosed information and you have raised a dispute, you may need to inform the client that a dispute is in progress. The client may choose to wait for the outcome or to make their own decision based on the information already disclosed.
- What is the Independent Monitor?
The Independent Monitor is an independent person appointed under the Police Act 1997 to review decisions by chief officers of police to disclose information on Enhanced DBS certificates. If you believe information has been wrongly disclosed on an Enhanced certificate under the chief officer power, you can refer your case to the Independent Monitor for review. The Independent Monitor can direct the DBS to issue a new certificate without that information if they find the disclosure was not appropriate.
- What if the DBS rejects my dispute?
If the DBS investigates and finds that the information on the certificate is accurate, they will not issue a corrected certificate. You can ask for the reasons for this decision and, in some cases, escalate through the DBS complaints process. If the dispute relates to Enhanced check chief officer information, the Independent Monitor route may still be available. For disputes involving conviction records, if you believe the underlying conviction record is wrong, the issue may need to be pursued through the relevant police force or court system rather than through the DBS.
- Can I dispute information that has been filtered?
Filtered information does not appear on a DBS certificate, so there is nothing to dispute in that sense. If you believe information has appeared on your certificate that should have been filtered under the DBS filtering rules, you can raise this with the DBS as a dispute. The DBS will review whether the filtering rules apply and, if so, issue a corrected certificate.
- Does raising a dispute affect my ability to apply for future DBS checks?
No. Raising a dispute does not affect your ability to apply for future DBS checks. The dispute is a process for correcting errors, not a mark against the applicant. You can continue to apply for new checks regardless of whether a dispute is in progress or has been resolved.
This guide applies to self-employed workers in England and Wales only. Self-employed workers in Scotland should apply through Disclosure Scotland. In Northern Ireland, the equivalent service is AccessNI. This page is for guidance only and does not constitute legal advice. If you have questions about your specific circumstances, contact our support team or consult a qualified legal adviser.
Apply for Your DBS Check
Self-employed-dbs.co.uk processes Standard and Enhanced DBS applications for paid self-employed workers in England and Wales. No employer needed. Apply online with digital ID verification available.