diff --git a/provider/storage-aws/src/main/java/org/opengroup/osdu/storage/provider/aws/security/UserAccessService.java b/provider/storage-aws/src/main/java/org/opengroup/osdu/storage/provider/aws/security/UserAccessService.java
index 03f1b1a37bdab2270d637fec215c256de9e361e5..6cdc23b317b1a9105bc588839888ab2dd5a2a830 100644
--- a/provider/storage-aws/src/main/java/org/opengroup/osdu/storage/provider/aws/security/UserAccessService.java
+++ b/provider/storage-aws/src/main/java/org/opengroup/osdu/storage/provider/aws/security/UserAccessService.java
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ import org.springframework.stereotype.Service;
 public class UserAccessService {
 
 
+    public static final String RECORD_WRITING_ERROR_REASON = "Error on writing record";
     @Inject
     private DpsHeaders dpsHeaders;
     @Inject
@@ -115,9 +116,9 @@ public class UserAccessService {
                 validateRecordAclsForServicePrincipal(records);
             } catch (InvalidACLException aclException) {
                 throw new AppException(
-                    HttpStatus.SC_FORBIDDEN,
-                    "Invalid ACL",
-                    String.format("ACL has invalid Group %s", aclException.getAcl()));
+                    HttpStatus.SC_BAD_REQUEST,
+                    RECORD_WRITING_ERROR_REASON,
+                    String.format("Could not find group \"%s\".", aclException.getAcl()));
             }
         }
     }
diff --git a/testing/storage-test-aws/src/test/java/org/opengroup/osdu/storage/records/TestIngestRecordNotFound.java b/testing/storage-test-aws/src/test/java/org/opengroup/osdu/storage/records/TestIngestRecordNotFound.java
index e5a1fb4503253c4f55a9d8969425a53ff94b157c..88bb3487511c7a1dc203eb70e5fa3781473c187b 100644
--- a/testing/storage-test-aws/src/test/java/org/opengroup/osdu/storage/records/TestIngestRecordNotFound.java
+++ b/testing/storage-test-aws/src/test/java/org/opengroup/osdu/storage/records/TestIngestRecordNotFound.java
@@ -56,6 +56,6 @@ public class TestIngestRecordNotFound extends IngestRecordNotFoundTest {
 		CloseableHttpResponse response = TestUtils.send("records", "PUT", HeaderUtils.getHeaders(TenantUtils.getTenantName(), testUtils.getToken()), record, "");
         // it's a much simpler implementation to just check if the user is in the group that is being saved and if not to skip
         // per previous integration test requirements
-        TestUtils.getResult(response, HttpStatus.SC_FORBIDDEN, String.class);
+        TestUtils.getResult(response, HttpStatus.SC_BAD_REQUEST, String.class);
 	}
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}