Complaint & Appeals Procedure

Appeals Procedure

An Applicant or Certified Financial Fiduciary professional who wishes to appeal a certification decision, must follow these procedures.

1. An Applicant or Certified Financial Fiduciary professional may appeal a decision made by NACFF regarding certification or recertification.
2. The Applicant or Certified Financial Fiduciary professional must put their appeal in writing and submit them to NACFF either in an email to: appeals@nationalcffassociation.org or in a letter sent to Attn: Appeals, NACFF 1619 Providence Rd. S. Ste 220-203 Marvin, NC 28173 received by NACFF no more than thirty (30) days following the date that the determination they are contesting was delivered to the individual.

Should an individual appeal a decision made by NACFF to deny initial certification, revoke or suspend certification, deny an application for recertification or deny an application for reinstatement of certification, the appeal will be directed to the Chairperson of the Certified Financial Fiduciary® Certification Committee for his or her consideration. If the chairperson determines that the appeal has merit, a Certification Appeals Committee consisting of three (3) NACFF certificants who have the following characteristics shall be formed at the discretion of the Certification Committee Chairperson to determine if the designation should be denied, suspended or revoked:

• non-NACFF board members who currently hold the Certified Financial Fiduciary® designation and who share the same primary discipline as the subject of the appeal;
• who do not work for the same company or firm as the subject of the appeal;
• who are not related within the fourth degree of consanguinity or affinity to the subject of the appeal; and
• who do not personally know the subject of the appeal.

Staff members, consultants or any other individual involved in the initial decision that is being appealed will not be involved in the appeals process, other than tracking the progress of the appeal.

The chairperson will review the appeal within thirty (30) days of receipt to determine whether an appeals committee should be convened. If convened, the Certification Appeals Committee will make a recommendation to the Certification Committee within sixty (60) days of receipt of the appeal. The Certification Committee will review the recommendation of the Certification Appeals Committee and make a final recommendation to the NACFF Board of Directors as to the recommended outcome of the appeal. All decisions made by the NACFF Board of Directors shall be final.

NACFF will acknowledge receipt of all appeals received and keep the appellant informed as to the status of the appeal throughout the process and will inform the appellant of the final resolution.

Throughout the appeals process, staff will maintain a tracking log of actions taken to resolve the appeal. The Chairpersons of the Certification Committee and the Certification Appeals Committee will keep staff informed of progress in handling the appeal. At the conclusion of each appeals process, staff and the Chairpersons will discuss what improvements, if any, could be made to the process and recommend changes, if needed, to policies and procedures.

To provide consistency and treat all Applicants and certificants fairly, the Certification Committee shall maintain a record of appeals, including outcomes recommended to the Board of Directors, so that future decisions of a similar nature will be adjudicated similarly.

Individuals seeking an appeal of a certification decision will be provided with the policy and procedures for handling appeals when they submit the appeal. Any interested party may request a copy of the appeals policies and procedures at any time. During the appeals process, the individual making the request will be kept informed as to the progress of the appeal throughout the time the appeal is under consideration and upon completion of the appeal process. During the appeals process, the individual requesting the appeal will not be denied any other NACFF services and will not be treated in a discriminatory manner.