ABT Insurance/ABT Accredited - The CPD Register Review

Commercial Identification and Contactability

Associated Beauty Therapists Limited trades under the name ABT and operates the website at https://www.abtinsurance.co.uk. The legal entity name, registered company number (06135223), and FCA authorisation number (463052) are disclosed in the website footer and on the Privacy Policy page.

The organisation publishes two addresses:
Registered office: One Creechurch Place, London, EC3A 5AF (updated on Companies House 17 November 2025)
Trading address: 8 The Courtyard, Timothy's Bridge Road, Stratford Upon Avon, CV37 9NP

A telephone number, email address, and a live chat facility are all accessible on the website. Contact information meets the standard required for reliable legal correspondence and commercial identification.Source: https://www.abtinsurance.co.uk/PrivacyPolicy — accessed 14 May 2026

Source: https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/06135223 — accessed 14 May 2026

Transparency of Assessment Framework

ABT publishes a publicly accessible accreditation page at https://www.abtinsurance.co.uk/Accreditation/Accreditation. The Accreditation Terms & Conditions document (version Q2-25-Version.00343, November 2025) sets out four criteria that ABT considers when assessing an application:

1. Is the college delivering an insurable course?
2. Is the content suitable and do the course hours meet the industry standard?
3. Is the trainer insured?
4. Is the training being delivered by a teacher qualified to PTTLS or AET standard?

The Terms & Conditions state that all four criteria must be answered "yes" at the time of application for accreditation to be granted.Whilst these four criteria provide a baseline disclosure of the assessment threshold, they do not constitute a detailed published assessment framework. No minimum course hour requirements, content standards, treatment-type specifications, or assessor competency requirements are defined or published. The accreditation page itself does not reference these criteria; they are only available in a document not linked from any publicly accessible page on the website.

The Terms & Conditions also state explicitly that ABT accreditation is used for internal insurance purposes only and is not a national framework or a recognised qualification. This is a significant disclosure, confirming that the accreditation standard is set and applied by ABT for its own insurance underwriting purposes rather than as an independent educational quality standard.ABT reserves the right to cancel, decline, or refuse to accredit any application for a course or college without explanation.

Source: https://www.abtinsurance.co.uk/Accreditation/Accreditation — accessed 14 May 2026
Source: ABT Accreditation Terms & Conditions — Accredited Colleges (version Q2-25-Version.00343, November 2025) — supplied 14 May 2026

Pricing Transparency

A full pricing schedule for accreditation is published at https://www.abtinsurance.co.uk/Accreditation/Accreditation and is accessible without login:

Up to 10 courses: £250
Up to 15 courses: £400
Up to 20 courses: £500
Over 20 courses: £600

These are stated as one-off initial application fees. The Terms & Conditions confirm that the initial fee is non-refundable unless the course is classed as uninsurable as a treatment, in which case a refund is due within the first 90 days. Additional courses submitted after the initial application are charged at £40 per course (face to face); online course conversion is charged at £30 per course on top of the initial application fee. Digital course conversion pricing is not stated on the public accreditation page.

Additional charges are also disclosed in the Terms & Conditions: a name or brand change to an accredited college after three months requires full resubmission with an £85 fee, and document retrieval is charged at £50 per item or £400 per day.

For accreditation holders insured with ABT, the annual insurance administration fee of £100 per active policy is waived. For those holding insurance with another provider, the £100 fee applies and requires annual resubmission of insurance documentation. This differential is disclosed on both the accreditation page and in the Terms & Conditions.

Source: https://www.abtinsurance.co.uk/Accreditation/Accreditation — accessed 14 May 2026
Source: ABT Accreditation Terms & Conditions — Accredited Colleges (version Q2-25-Version.00343, November 2025) — supplied 14 May 2026

Terms and Conditions

ABT has published a Terms & Conditions document for accredited colleges (version Q2-25-Version.00343, November 2025). The document covers the following material provisions:

- The accreditation fee is charged at the point of application and is non-refundable except where a course is classed as uninsurable, in which case a refund applies within the first 90 days
- Accreditation may be cancelled, declined, or refused without explanation
- Accredited status may be removed without notice, with no refund of fees outside the first 90 days
- The organisation can give a minimum of seven days' notice to terminate its services
- The applicant has a 14-day cancellation right from the date of payment
- ABT reserves the right to amend its terms at least once every quarter
- Accreditation requires an active insurance policy per tutor; if insurance lapses, accreditation is suspended immediately and automatically
- Where the insurer removes or amends the availability of a product, the accreditation continues to its natural end but insurance for students is no longer available, with no refund outside 90 days
- Original submitted documents (course manuals, lesson plans, certificates) may not be retained and may not be returnable; retrieval is charged at £50 per item or £400 per day

The Terms & Conditions document is described as supplementary to ABT's Terms of Business. It does not appear to be linked from any publicly accessible page on the website; it was not retrievable via the link on the accreditation page at the time of this review.

Several provisions are materially significant for prospective applicants: the right to remove accreditation without notice and without refund, the right to amend terms quarterly, and the automatic suspension of accreditation upon lapse of insurance all represent substantial unilateral rights retained by ABT. Prospective applicants should review these provisions carefully before committing to an application.

Source: ABT Accreditation Terms & Conditions — Accredited Colleges (version Q2-25-Version.00343, November 2025) — supplied 14 May 2026
Source: https://www.abtinsurance.co.uk/Accreditation/Accreditation — accessed 14 May 2026

Individual Course Assessment

The accreditation page and the Terms & Conditions both confirm that accreditation is assessed and priced at individual course level. The pricing structure is tiered by number of courses submitted in the initial application, and additional courses submitted after initial accreditation are charged at £40 per course (face to face) or £30 per course for online conversion. The Terms & Conditions confirm that the application process involves review of course manuals, lesson plans, certificates, and other supporting documentation.

The four assessment criteria published in the Terms & Conditions are applied at the point of application: whether the course is insurable, whether content and hours meet industry standard, whether the trainer is insured, and whether the trainer holds a PTTLS or AET teaching qualification.

A publicly accessible searchable register of accredited colleges is available at https://www.abtinsurance.co.uk/FindAccreditedCollege/, with filters for course type (Digital Courses or Face to Face Courses). The register lists colleges and training providers by name and location. Individual course-level records within each provider's entry were not confirmed as publicly accessible from the register at the time of this review.

Source: https://www.abtinsurance.co.uk/Accreditation/Accreditation — accessed 14 May 2026
Source: https://www.abtinsurance.co.uk/FindAccreditedCollege/ — accessed 14 May 2026
Source: ABT Accreditation Terms & Conditions — Accredited Colleges (version Q2-25-Version.00343, November 2025) — supplied 14 May 2026

Review and Renewal

No defined periodic review or renewal cycle for accredited courses is published on the website or set out in the Terms & Conditions. The Terms & Conditions confirm that accreditation requires an active insurance policy per tutor against the college record at all times; if insurance lapses, accreditation is automatically suspended. This constitutes an annual administrative trigger linked to insurance renewal rather than a substantive review of course content or standards.

The Terms & Conditions further state that where a college changes its name or fundamental brand identity after three months of accreditation, a full resubmission of paperwork is required and a fee of £85 is charged, with reaccreditation not guaranteed. This indicates that identity changes trigger a new assessment, but no equivalent provision for proactive content review is described.

The accreditation page notes that ABT provides support when adding new courses or converting existing courses to online format, which indicates a process for extending accreditation to new content. However, the nature of any substantive assessment on addition or change — as distinct from an administrative registration process — is not described.

ABT reserves the right to amend its terms at least once every quarter.

Source: https://www.abtinsurance.co.uk/Accreditation/Accreditation — accessed 14 May 2026
Source: ABT Accreditation Terms & Conditions — Accredited Colleges (version Q2-25-Version.00343, November 2025) — supplied 14 May 2026

Sale of Training Courses or Materials

No evidence was found on the public-facing website of ABT selling its own training courses or training materials to third parties. The organisation's stated commercial activities are insurance broking (beauty, aesthetics, hair, and related sectors), trade membership services, and course accreditation for training colleges and providers.

Source: https://www.abtinsurance.co.uk — accessed 14 May 2026
Source: https://www.abtinsurance.co.uk/Accreditation/Accreditation — accessed 14 May 2026

Financial Relationships with Third-Party Service Providers

The accreditation page confirms that accredited colleges receive a unique discount code entitling their students to 10% off any ABT individual membership and insurance package. This creates a direct commercial flow from the accreditation relationship into ABT's insurance and membership revenue: accredited colleges are actively incentivised to refer their students to ABT as their insurance provider.

The page also lists promotional benefits forming part of the accreditation package, including inclusion in bi-weekly newsletters to ABT's membership base, entry to trade shows, editorial support on the ABT-operated website beautyandhairdressing.co.uk, and listing on the Find an Accredited College register. These benefits represent a commercial exchange: accredited colleges market ABT to their students, and ABT promotes accredited colleges to its membership base.

ABT is an FCA-authorised insurance broker (FCA reference 463052). No referral fees or commission arrangements with third-party service providers beyond the insurer relationship were identified.

Source: https://www.abtinsurance.co.uk/Accreditation/Accreditation — accessed 14 May 2026
Source: ABT Accreditation Terms & Conditions — Accredited Colleges (version Q2-25-Version.00343, November 2025) — supplied 14 May 2026

Ownership or Control Relationships with Aligned Commercial Interests

A material structural conflict of interest is identified in the relationship between ABT's accreditation function and its insurance broking activity. Both the accreditation page and the Terms & Conditions make this relationship explicit.

The Terms & Conditions state that ABT accreditation is used for internal insurance purposes only and is not a national framework or a recognised qualification. The primary purpose of the accreditation process — as described in ABT's own published documentation — is to determine whether a course is insurable under ABT's insurance products, not to provide independent assessment of educational quality against a published standard.

The four assessment criteria published in the Terms & Conditions reflect this framing directly: the first criterion is whether the course is insurable; a further criterion requires the trainer to hold an active insurance policy. Accreditation is automatically suspended if insurance lapses. The accreditation page states, and the Terms & Conditions confirm, that ABT reserves the right to change its accreditation terms and the acceptance of treatment types at the direction of the insurer.

The pricing structure creates a further direct financial incentive: ABT-insured applicants pay no annual administration fee, whilst those insured elsewhere are charged £100 per active policy annually and must resubmit insurance documentation each year. The accreditation page additionally offers students of accredited colleges a 10% discount on ABT insurance and membership packages, routing the commercial benefit of accreditation back into ABT's insurance revenue.

Taken together, ABT's accreditation function is by its own description an internal insurance eligibility assessment, not an independent educational quality standard. CPD training providers and their students should be aware that ABT accreditation is defined by ABT itself as conferring no status beyond eligibility for ABT insurance products, and that its criteria and scope are subject to direction from ABT's insurance underwriting partners.

Source: https://www.abtinsurance.co.uk/Accreditation/Accreditation — accessed 14 May 2026
Source: ABT Accreditation Terms & Conditions — Accredited Colleges (version Q2-25-Version.00343, November 2025) — supplied 14 May 2026

Consistency of Filings with Advertised Activity

Accounts were filed on 17 September 2024, made up to 31 July 2024, as total exemption full accounts. The accounting reference date has since been extended to 31 December 2025 (filed 28 May 2025); next accounts are due by 30 September 2026. The confirmation statement was filed on 2 March 2026 with no updates. All filings reviewed appear current and in good order.

Source: https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/06135223/filing-history — accessed 14 May 2026

Companies House Status

Associated Beauty Therapists Limited (company number 06135223) is recorded as Active on Companies House. The company was incorporated on 2 March 2007 as a private limited company.

Registered office: One Creechurch Place, London, EC3A 5AF (updated 17 November 2025).

Source: https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/06135223 — accessed 14 May 2026
Source: https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/06135223/officers — accessed 14 May 2026
Source: https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/06135223/persons-with-significant-control — accessed 14 May 2026

Website Status

The website at https://www.abtinsurance.co.uk is active and functioning.

Source: https://www.abtinsurance.co.uk/ — accessed 14 May 2026

Regulatory Rulings and Public Enforcement Records

No ASA rulings, ICO enforcement notices, Trading Standards referrals, or other published regulatory decisions against Associated Beauty Therapists Limited or the ABT brand were identified at the time of this review.

The ICO registration (Z1023698) is current, with expiry recorded as 21 August 2026, at Tier 1. The ICO registration address (The Courtyard Wixford Park, George's Elm Lane, Bidford on Avon, Warwickshire, B50 4JS) reflects the pre-October 2024 address and has not been updated to reflect the current registered office or trading address. This is an administrative matter for the organisation to resolve with the ICO.

ABT's insurance broking activity is separately regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA authorisation number 463052). No FCA enforcement actions were identified within the scope of this review.

Source: https://ico.org.uk/ESDWebPages/Entry/Z1023698 — accessed 14 May 2026
Source: https://www.asa.org.uk — searched 14 May 2026 (no relevant rulings found)

Distinguishing CPD from Regulated Qualifications

The ABT Accreditation Terms & Conditions state explicitly that ABT accreditation is not a national framework or a recognised qualification and is used for internal insurance purposes only. This is a significant disclosure, and ABT is to be credited for making it clearly in its Terms & Conditions.

However, the public-facing accreditation page at https://www.abtinsurance.co.uk/Accreditation/Accreditation does not include this disclaimer. The page describes accreditation as giving courses "the seal of approval and recognition they deserve" and states that accredited colleges can market themselves as "approved, endorsed and eligible" to offer ABT insurance to students. This language, in the absence of any accompanying statement that ABT accreditation is not a national framework or recognised qualification, may lead training providers or their students to overstate the significance of ABT accredited status in their own marketing.

Furthermore, the accreditation page states that ABT is only able to insure members to practise treatments taught under NVQ, SVQ, National or International qualifications, or courses that have passed its accreditation process. Positioning ABT accreditation as an alternative to regulated qualifications for the purpose of insurance eligibility, without any accompanying clarification that ABT accreditation does not confer equivalent qualification status, risks creating confusion for students who may not distinguish between insurance eligibility and qualification recognition.

The Terms & Conditions disclaimer that ABT accreditation is not a national framework or recognised qualification should be reflected prominently on the public-facing accreditation page, not solely within a document that is not linked from any publicly accessible page on the website.

Source: https://www.abtinsurance.co.uk/Accreditation/Accreditation — accessed 14 May 2026
Source: ABT Accreditation Terms & Conditions — Accredited Colleges (version Q2-25-Version.00343, November 2025) — supplied 14 May 2026

Further Information about this organisation

Website

https://abtinsurance.co.uk

Companies House Number

06135223

Companies House Incorporation Date

2nd March 2007

ICO Number

Z1023698

ICO Registration Date

22nd August 2007

Physical Office Published

Yes

Telephone

Yes

Live Chat

Yes

Pricing Published

Yes

Accreditation Criteria Published

Activities Individually Accredited

Unknown

Review Frequency