Two numbers decide most conversations about Amazon account health, and sellers often mix them up. One is your Account Health Rating. The other is 250, the score Amazon uses to decide who gets Account Health Assurance. This guide explains both, what moves the rating, what AHA members get in 2026 and how to keep the status once you have it.
What is the Amazon Account Health Rating?
The Account Health Rating (AHR) is the single score Amazon shows on the Account Health page to summarize how well a seller account follows Amazon’s selling policies. When Amazon introduced the rating, it said the score reflects the number of unresolved policy violations, how severe they are and how much your selling improves the customer experience (Amazon Seller Forums, about 2020).
Amazon set two limits on the rating at launch. Some selling policies are not reflected in it. And a good rating does not protect an account that breaks contractual terms, laws, regulations or tax rules, or that is used for fraudulent or illegal activity or puts customers at risk.
Amazon has published how the rating rises. In an Ask Amazon session recap from late 2025, Amazon staff said you gain four points for every 200 successful orders fulfilled over the last 180 days (Amazon Seller Forums, about 2025). Amazon has not published how many points each violation costs in any source we could read. Point tables you find online are not Amazon documents.
What do the Account Health Rating bands mean?
The Account Health Rating runs from 0 to 1,000. A score of 200 or more falls in the Healthy band, 100 to 199 is At Risk, and below 100 means the account is at risk of deactivation or already deactivated. Amazon documents these bands on a Seller Central help page that requires a login, so check them against your own Account Health page. The 250 that sellers talk about is not a band. It is the Account Health Assurance bar.
| Score | Status | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| 250–1,000, held for 6 months | Account Health Assurance bar (not a band) | Eligible for AHA if the other conditions are met |
| 200–1,000 | Healthy | The rating is not putting the account at risk. Other policies and the seller agreement still apply. |
| 100–199 | At Risk | The account may be at risk of deactivation until the violations behind the score are resolved |
| 0–99 | Below 100 | The account is at risk of deactivation or already deactivated |
The rating is also written into your contract with Amazon. Section 3 of the Business Solutions Agreement lists an Account Health Rating below Amazon’s published deactivation threshold as one of the cases in which Amazon may suspend or terminate an account immediately (Amazon Seller Forums, about 2024).
There is one more case to know. Amazon staff said that when a critical violation is detected, the rating turns red and shows zero, Amazon notifies you on the Account Health page and by email, and you have a 3-day grace period to address the issue before deactivation (Amazon Seller Forums, about 2025). Amazon did not say whether every critical violation works the same way, so read the notice itself.
Why isn’t an AHR of 250 the same as “healthy”?
They answer different questions. 200 is where the Healthy band starts. 250 is the bar for Account Health Assurance, and it comes with a time test: an AHR of 250 or higher for at least 6 months, with no more than 10 days below 250 (Amazon Seller Forums, about 2025).
So an account at 230 is Healthy and still not eligible for AHA. An account that usually sits at 260 but drops to 240 for two weeks after a run of complaints has spent more than 10 days below the bar. Neither is an emergency. Both lose the protections described below.
Amazon words the rule in two ways. The eligibility post says no more than 10 days below 250. The late-2025 Ask Amazon recap, describing how to stay eligible, says not to let the rating fall below 250 for more than 10 consecutive days. Plan for the stricter reading. In practice that means managing the account to stay well above 250, not to stay above 200.
What moves the rating up or down?
New policy violations recorded against the account lower the Account Health Rating, and addressing them is how it recovers. Amazon said at launch that once it confirms a violation has been addressed, the rating updates within 24 to 48 hours. The score also moves on its own over a rolling 180-day window: points tied to unresolved issues drop out after 180 days, and points from fulfilled orders drop out too.
Amazon staff say the policy issues that affect your rating are listed on the Account Health page itself. In a post from about 2023, an Amazon staff member described the violation types sellers see most often there and what usually resolves each (Amazon Seller Forums, about 2023). The table follows that description. Your dashboard may name or group them differently.
| Violation type on the Account Health page | What it usually means | What resolves it, per Amazon staff |
|---|---|---|
| Suspected intellectual property violations | Amazon’s systems flagged listing content as possibly infringing | Edit the listing to remove the content |
| Received intellectual property complaints | A rights owner filed a counterfeit, trademark, copyright or patent complaint | Show that you were authorized to sell the product |
| Product authenticity customer complaints | Buyers reported that the item may not be genuine | An invoice that verifies the product’s authenticity |
| Product condition customer complaints | Buyers reported that the item’s condition didn’t match the listing | An invoice that verifies the product’s authenticity |
| Food and product safety issues | Safety complaints about the product | An invoice that verifies the product’s authenticity |
| Restricted products | The listing appears to break a restricted-products policy | The dispute path, showing the listing complies, for example by editing keywords or sending compliance evidence |
| Policy violation warnings | Warnings listed under the main violations | Deal with them on time: Amazon staff say they generally affect the rating |
Two working habits follow from that table. Clear suspected IP flags the day they appear, because the fix is usually an edit. And keep invoices and authorization letters filed by ASIN, because the authenticity categories turn on documents you either have or don’t.
What is Account Health Assurance, and who qualifies?
Account Health Assurance (AHA) is an Amazon program that protects qualifying sellers from deactivation while they work with Amazon to fix an account issue. Amazon enrolls an account automatically, at no additional cost, once it meets the conditions in the table below (Amazon Seller Forums, about 2025). Enrolled sellers get an enrollment email and see an AHA badge on the Account Health dashboard, according to Amazon staff (Amazon Seller Forums, about 2025).
| Condition | What Amazon requires |
|---|---|
| Selling plan | A Professional selling account |
| Rating | An AHR of 250 or higher for at least 6 months |
| Days below 250 | No more than 10 during that period |
| Contact | A valid emergency contact number on file |
| Enrollment | Automatic, at no additional cost |
To compare your own numbers against these rules, use the Account Health Assurance eligibility checker. Amazon decides eligibility. The checker only compares your answers with Amazon’s published conditions.
What does AHA protect, and what doesn’t it cover?
With AHA, an account health specialist contacts you when an issue could lead to deactivation and explains what it is and how to address it. Amazon’s condition is plain: as long as you respond within 72 hours and work with Amazon to resolve the issue, the account won’t be deactivated. Amazon also says it may still take immediate action, including deactivation, for serious violations such as fraud or deceptive, illegal or harmful activity.
| AHA gives you | AHA does not give you |
|---|---|
| A specialist who contacts you before an issue leads to deactivation | Protection from immediate action over fraud or deceptive, illegal or harmful activity |
| Time to respond: 72 hours, then ongoing work with Amazon | Protection if nobody answers the emergency contact in time |
| Access to Seller Challenge and, as it rolls out, Listing Protection | A way to challenge account-level suspensions through Seller Challenge |
To stay eligible, Amazon staff listed six conditions in the late-2025 recap: don’t let the rating fall below 250 for more than 10 consecutive days, keep a verified emergency contact number in Seller Central, meet all regulatory compliance obligations, engage with Amazon’s account health team within 72 hours of being told it needs to work with you, fully resolve issues with Account Health Support and avoid repeating the same policy compliance issues.
The last one deserves attention. A brand that fixes a listing claim and then repeats it on the next launch is working against its own AHA status, even if each fix was accepted.
What else does Account Health Assurance give you in 2026?
Account Health Assurance used to be mainly about time and a named contact. Since late 2025 it has also decided who can use Seller Challenge, and as Listing Protection rolls out in the US through the end of 2026, it decides who gets that too. Both apply to listings, not to whole accounts.
Seller Challenge
Seller Challenge lets AHA members ask Amazon to re-review eligible listing-level policy decisions after they have used all the standard appeal options (Amazon Seller Forums, late 2025). You can use it three times every 180 days, and each failed challenge replenishes after six months. You can attach more documentation with a challenge. Amazon says its teams aim to decide within 48 hours.
Amazon’s post says your enrollment status shows in the banner at the top right of the Account Health dashboard. Seller Challenge does not cover account suspensions. Those go through the normal appeal path, usually with a Plan of Action.
Listing Protection
Amazon announced Listing Protection at Accelerate 2026 (Amazon, September 29, 2026). When a violation is flagged, the listing stays live while the seller resolves it, with clear steps and a way to challenge errors. Amazon said that in most cases the listing stays active until it issues a decision. Listing Protection is due to reach all AHA sellers in the US by the end of 2026 and to roll out worldwide in 2027.
For a brand whose top ASINs carry most of the revenue, that is the clearest commercial reason to keep the AHA bar. A deactivated best-seller costs roughly its average daily units times its average price for every day it is offline. Listing Protection is meant to keep the listing selling in most cases while a case is open, and Amazon is offering it to AHA sellers.
How do I monitor and protect my Account Health Rating?
Most of the work is routine. The aim is to see violations early, answer them with documents and never let the rating sit near 250 for long.
- Read the Account Health page on a fixed schedule. Weekly is a sensible minimum for a catalog in a regulated category. Daily while any violation or notice is open.
- Read every performance notification in full. Note the policy, the ASINs and any deadline before anyone edits a listing.
- Clear suspected IP flags quickly. They are usually fixed by editing the listing content Amazon flagged.
- Keep the evidence file current. For each ASIN: supplier invoices, letters of authorization, test reports and certificates. Authenticity appeals depend on them.
- Keep the emergency contact live. It should reach a person who reads Amazon messages and can act within 72 hours, including on weekends.
- Track days below 250. Note any day the rating dips under 250 and count consecutive days. It is the condition that is easiest to miss.
- Stop repeat issues at the source. Each accepted appeal should end with a change in process: a listing review step, a supplier check, a packaging rule.
- Give access through permissions, not passwords. Amazon advises sellers not to share their password and to use User Permissions instead (Amazon Seller Forums, about 2024).
What should I do when the rating drops or a violation appears?
Start with the notice, not the appeal. Write down the policy named, the ASINs, the dates and any deadline. Check whether the violation is one you fix by editing the listing, one that needs documents or one that needs a written appeal.
If it needs an appeal, find the root cause before you write. A short, specific appeal with documents beats a long, general one. Our guide to writing an Amazon Plan of Action covers the structure. If the notice is a suspension or deactivation, use the first-72-hours checklist before you send anything.
If you hold AHA and a specialist contacts you, answer within 72 hours, even if your answer is only that you are gathering documents and when you will send them.
How LIVELE helps
LIVELE’s Compliance Management retainer includes Account Health and Performance Notification monitoring, handling of policy violations, appeals and corrective actions, and tracking of the documents each product category needs. You get a monthly compliance report and review. The goal is to keep the rating well clear of 250 and to catch repeat issues before they cost you AHA status.
When a case is already open, Urgent Case Review & Appeal is a one-off engagement: a senior review of the notice and account history, a root-cause analysis and a Plan of Action you approve before it goes to Amazon. No one can guarantee reinstatement or an AHA status, because Amazon makes the final decision. We commit to a process, not an outcome.
LIVELE is an independent consultancy and is not affiliated with Amazon. We’re not a law firm and don’t give legal advice.
Last verified October 7, 2026. Amazon changes these programs often. Check the Account Health page in Seller Central for your own status.
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