What do you do?
The CAP Copy Advice team offers pre-publication advice on non-broadcast advertising across all sectors. We can look at concepts, imagery, copy, or help you sense-check an idea or answer a question. Although we’re happy to review work at any stage, earlier is usually better.
Our goal is to help you spot potential issues before you invest time and resources, and to support you in finding solutions that allow your advertising to be effective and compliant – reducing the risk of complaints later.
We give all advice in good faith, but it is not binding on you, CAP or the ASA.
Please note:
- We only advise on the CAP Code (non-broadcast).
- For advice on TV ads, contact Clearcast; for radio ads, contact Radiocentre.
- We do not provide legal advice.
How much can you advise on?
As a guide, we can review and provide advice on the following per submission:
- Up to six image-based ads, or
- Up to four pages of text, or
- Up to five minutes of video, or
- A reasonable combination, considering the above.
If your submission exceeds these limits, we may limit our review to content within them. Any additional content will need to be submitted separately, and additional charges may apply where relevant.
To keep the service fair and accessible, we may occasionally need to restrict access to our service. Any restriction will be applied proportionately and communicated to the relevant enquirers.
We do not tolerate abusive behaviour towards our staff. Where this occurs, we may refuse to provide advice and, if necessary, refer the matter to the police or other appropriate authorities.
How long does it take?
Our standard response time is 3–5 working days, with paid options available for faster responses.
To help us manage our resources more effectively, we've updated our turnaround times.
Our standard turnaround time begins once we have received all the information we need to assess your enquiry in an accessible format. If we need more information, we’ll let you know as soon as possible.
If you need a faster response, we offer three paid expedited turnaround options:
- 4-hour response – £600 (£500 + VAT @ 20%)
- 24-hour response – £300 (£250 + VAT @ 20%)
- 48-hour response – £150 (£125 + VAT @ 20%)
Your chosen timeframe begins once we’ve received both your payment, or confirmed invoicing arrangements, and all the information we need in an accessible format.
Our working hours are 9.00am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays in England. Any additional closures will be posted on our website and LinkedIn page.
For 4-hour responses, the clock only runs during working hours. If it crosses 5.30pm, it pauses and restarts at 9.00am on the next working day.
For 24-hour, 48-hour or 3–5 working day responses, if your deadline falls outside working hours, you’ll receive a response by 9.00am on the next working day.
Please see our full terms and conditions for further details.
What payment methods do you accept?
We currently offer online card payments for all three paid expedited turnaround options, and invoice payment for the 4-hour response. Please note that invoice payments include a £30 surcharge (£25 added to the pre-VAT price, plus VAT @ 20%).
If you’d prefer to pay by invoice for the 24-hour or 48-hour options, submit a standard free 3–5 working day enquiry and email [email protected] with the reference number from your acknowledgement email, specifying your preferred turnaround option.
We will respond with a form for you to complete so we can raise an invoice. Once we’ve received the completed form, we’ll be able to begin work on your enquiry.
If you’d like to explore other arrangements, such as pre-payment for multiple enquiries, please contact the Copy Advice Operations Manager, Emma Humber-Smith, at [email protected] to discuss your particular needs.
Is your service confidential?
Yes. The advice we give is confidential to you as the enquirer. However, if the ASA later receives a complaint about the content that you asked us about, they will be made aware of the advice we provided.
We generally won’t discuss the advice with anyone else unless they can demonstrate that they work with you or on your behalf, and already have access to that advice.
Although the team will not sign any non-disclosure agreements or confidentiality contracts, we will treat in confidence any genuinely private or secret material supplied unless the courts, or officials acting within their statutory powers, compel its disclosure.
For further information on how we collect and process personal information, please see our privacy policy.
Additional information
If your submission includes evidence to support any claims, we will review it as quickly as we can, but it is likely to take longer than our usual timeframes.
If the evidence is particularly technical or complex, we may only be able to give a general steer. We can’t seek expert input, so in those cases we would encourage you to seek your own expert advice on the evidence you hold.
Where do I submit my enquiry?
All enquiries, and accompanying documents, should be uploaded via our webform. You'll need to have registered on the website and obtained a login first.
If the files you intend to submit are particularly large, we recommend providing a WeTransfer link or similar rather than uploading them through the website, to avoid potential delays.
What do I do if I need help or have a question about the service?
If you can’t use the webform because of accessibility needs, please call the ASA switchboard on 0207 492 2222 or email [email protected] and we’ll seek to make reasonable adjustments and arrange an alternative way for you to submit your enquiry.
If the webform isn’t working for you, you haven’t heard back within the expected timeframe, or you have any other questions about the service, please email [email protected].
Please note: this inbox is for resolving service issues and is not an alternative to the webform for submitting enquiries.