Terms of engagement

Last updated 13 September 2026. These terms apply to every assessment ordered through this website.

Read these before you pay. They are the contract between us, and they are written to be understood rather than to be impressive.

1. Who you are contracting with

Refusal Review is a trading name of Mark Hicks, a sole trader established at Windmill Wood Cottage, Gumfreston, Tenby, Pembrokeshire, SA70 8RN. That is also the address to which you should send any complaint. Email: hello@refusalreview.co.uk.

I am not a solicitor, I am not a chartered town planner, and I am not a member of the Royal Town Planning Institute. I do not hold myself out as any of those things. No qualification is required to prepare or lodge a planning appeal in England or Wales, but you should buy this knowing exactly what it is.

2. What you are buying

A written assessment of a single planning refusal, delivered as a PDF. It covers each reason for refusal, analysed against the officer’s report, the consultee responses, the development plan policies and guidance cited, comparable applications determined by the same authority, and appeal decisions bearing on the case. It gives a view on the prospects of each reason, a recommended way forward, the key dates, and what to request and from whom.

It also includes one round of written questions on the finished assessment.

It does not include:

• Acting for you, or any form of representation
• Preparing, submitting or conducting an appeal
• Contacting your local planning authority or any consultee on your behalf
• Drawings, surveys, flood consequences assessments or other technical work
• Legal advice of any kind
• Any ongoing duty to tell you about later changes in policy, law or circumstances

3. What it is not

It is not legal advice. It is not a professional opinion given by a chartered or regulated person, and it does not carry professional indemnity cover of the kind a chartered planner or solicitor would carry.

Any view on prospects is a reasoned view on the material available, not a prediction and not a guarantee. On an appeal the decision is the inspector’s — in England an inspector appointed by the Planning Inspectorate, in Wales Planning and Environment Decisions Wales acting for the Welsh Ministers. Neither is bound by anything I write.

You remain responsible for your own decisions, for your own deadlines, and for anything you submit to any authority. Where the assessment recommends taking professional advice, take it.

4. Scope

I take on householder and small commercial refusals in England and Wales. I do not take on major schemes, enforcement matters, listed building consent, or cases in Scotland or Northern Ireland.

Every submission is read before work starts. If your case is outside that scope, or the available file will not support a useful assessment, I will tell you within one working day and refund you in full. See section 8.

5. Price and payment

The price is £199 for one assessment of one refusal. That is the total you pay. VAT is not charged, as I am not registered for VAT in respect of this work, and there are no other fees or charges.

Payment is taken by card at the point of submission, through Stripe. I do not receive or store your card details. A receipt is issued automatically.

£199 is an introductory price and will rise to £250. The price that applies to you is the one shown at the moment you submit, and it does not change afterwards.

6. Timing

The assessment is delivered within 5 working days, running from the later of (a) the day I confirm at intake that I am taking the case, and (b) the day I have everything I need from you. Where a “next available start date” is shown on the website at the time you submit, the period runs from that date if it is later.

Working days are Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays in England and Wales. If something is going to be late, I will tell you before the deadline rather than after it.

7. What I need from you

The decision notice, the application reference, the name of the authority, and a short description of what you applied for. If I need anything else I will ask.

The assessment is only as good as what it is based on. If you know of something on the file that goes against you, tell me — an assessment that misses it is worth nothing to you. If material information is withheld or misstated, sections 8 and 11 do not oblige me to redo the work for free.

8. If I decline your case

If, after reading your submission, I decide not to take the case, you receive a full refund of £199 and a short written explanation, normally within one working day and in any event within five. No work will have begun and you owe nothing.

9. Your right to cancel

You are a consumer buying at a distance, so the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 give you a right to cancel within 14 days of entering into the contract, without giving a reason.

How to cancel. Tell me before the 14 days are up. An email to hello@refusalreview.co.uk saying you wish to cancel is enough; a letter to the address in section 1 is equally effective. You may use the model cancellation form at the end of these terms, but you do not have to. To meet the deadline it is enough that you send your message before the period ends.

Because the work starts inside those 14 days

5 working days is shorter than 14 days, so the assessment cannot be delivered on time unless I begin during your cancellation period. The submission form therefore will not submit unless you confirm, in the same tick box by which you accept these terms, both:

• that you expressly request that I begin work before the 14 days are up; and
• that you acknowledge you will lose the right to cancel once the assessment has been delivered to you in full.

The exact wording shown to you is recorded with your submission, along with the time you ticked it, so both of us can see later precisely what was agreed.

The consequences, which the Regulations require me to set out plainly:

• If you cancel before the assessment is finished, you must pay for what has been done up to the moment you tell me you are cancelling, in proportion to the full contract. So if roughly half the work is done, you pay roughly half of £199, and the balance is refunded. I will show you the basis for the figure.
• Once the assessment has been delivered in full, the right to cancel is gone and the full £199 is payable.
• If I decline your case at intake, section 8 applies instead and you get everything back regardless of any of the above.

Refunds are made using the same payment method you used, without any fee, within 14 days of my being told you are cancelling.

After you submit, I will send you written confirmation of these terms by email before any work begins.

10. Copyright and use

The assessment is written for you and for your refusal. Copyright stays with me; you get an unlimited licence to use it for your own purposes.

You may share it freely with anyone advising you — a planning consultant, a solicitor, an architect, your council, an inspector — and quote from it in an appeal. You may not resell it, publish it, or present it as your own or as anyone else’s work.

I will not publish your case, or any part of your file, as an example without asking you first and removing anything that identifies you.

11. Liability

Nothing in these terms limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or for anything else that cannot lawfully be limited. Your statutory rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 — including that the service be performed with reasonable care and skill — are not affected.

Subject to that, and because this is a £199 assessment rather than a professional retainer:

• My total liability for any claim arising out of an assessment is limited to the amount you paid for it.
• I am not liable for the outcome of any application or appeal, for a decision you take after reading the assessment, or for costs awarded against you by any authority or inspector.
• I am not liable for missed deadlines where you did not tell me the deadline or told me the wrong one. Dates given in the assessment are checked against the statutory rules and the papers available, but you should confirm any date that matters with the appeal body before relying on it.

If the assessment is not performed with reasonable care and skill, tell me and I will repeat or fix the work, or refund you, at your choice.

12. Complaints

Email hello@refusalreview.co.uk, or write to the address in section 1. I will acknowledge within two working days and give you a substantive reply within ten. There is no ombudsman scheme for this kind of service; nothing here affects your right to go to court.

13. Data

How your information is handled, how long documents are kept and how to have them deleted is set out in the privacy policy, which forms part of these terms.

14. General

The contract is formed when you submit the form and payment is accepted. It lasts until the assessment is delivered and any questions answered; there is no subscription and nothing recurring.

These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have jurisdiction. If you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland you may bring proceedings in your own courts.

If any part of these terms turns out to be unenforceable, the rest continues to apply.

Model cancellation form

You only need this if you want it. An email saying you are cancelling works just as well.