A referral network with one firm per profession in each postcode area

The Professional Connections Network (PCN) connects accountants, estate agents, financial advisers, mortgage brokers and solicitors across the UK. When a member has a client who needs your profession in your postcode area, the referral comes to you. No other firm in your profession can hold that area.

Run by Independent Check Ltd, in business since 2012. Who we are

OpenTaken121 of 121 areas open for accountants

Tap an area to check it. The boxes enlarge London and Manchester.

121 of 121 postcode areas are open for accountants.

What does each profession send and receive?

Most clients need more than one of the five. These are the referrals that pass between them most often, and each profession has its own page with the detail.

Accountants

PCN for accountants

Refers on: Pension and investment questions to advisers, wills and company law to solicitors, self-employed mortgages to brokers.

Receives: Landlords selling property, estates that need a final tax return, and new business owners.

Estate agents

PCN for estate agents

Refers on: Buyers who need a mortgage, conveyancing for both sides, and landlords with tax to report on a sale.

Receives: Homes to sell after a death, a divorce or a move into retirement.

Financial advisers

PCN for financial advisers

Refers on: Wills and powers of attorney to solicitors, tax returns to accountants, downsizing to estate agents.

Receives: People with an inheritance, the proceeds of a sale, or a business they’re selling.

Mortgage brokers

PCN for mortgage brokers

Refers on: Conveyancing to solicitors, and wider financial planning to advisers.

Receives: Buyers from estate agents, and self-employed applicants from accountants.

Solicitors

PCN for solicitors

Refers on: Estate property to estate agents, estate accounts to accountants, and beneficiaries to advisers.

Receives: Conveyancing from estate agents and brokers, and wills from advisers.

Who refers to whom?

Four everyday client situations, and the referrals each one can start between the five professions in one postcode area.

Accountant

Estate
agent

Financial
adviser

Mortgage
broker

Solicitor

Refers a client

Receives the referral

1
Estate agent → mortgage broker
The buyer needs a mortgage agreed before the sale can go ahead.
2
Estate agent → solicitor
Buyer and seller each need a solicitor for the conveyancing.
3
Estate agent → accountant
The seller is a landlord. Capital gains tax on a residential sale has to be reported to HMRC within 60 days.

Examples only. Which referrals happen depends on the client, and on which firms hold your postcode area.

Accountant

Estate
agent

Financial
adviser

Mortgage
broker

Solicitor

Refers a client

Receives the referral

1
Financial adviser → solicitor
Planning for retirement often starts with an up-to-date will and lasting powers of attorney.
2
Financial adviser → accountant
Taking pension income changes the client’s tax position.
3
Financial adviser → estate agent
The client decides to downsize and sell the family home.
4
Estate agent → mortgage broker
The next home needs a later‑life mortgage.

Examples only. Which referrals happen depends on the client, and on which firms hold your postcode area.

Accountant

Estate
agent

Financial
adviser

Mortgage
broker

Solicitor

Refers a client

Receives the referral

1
Accountant → solicitor
A new company needs articles, a shareholders’ agreement and contracts.
2
Accountant → financial adviser
Directors ask about pensions paid through the company, and cover if one of them falls ill.
3
Accountant → mortgage broker
Self-employed income needs a broker who knows how lenders read company accounts.

Examples only. Which referrals happen depends on the client, and on which firms hold your postcode area.

Accountant

Estate
agent

Financial
adviser

Mortgage
broker

Solicitor

Refers a client

Receives the referral

1
Solicitor → accountant
The estate needs a final tax return for the person who died.
2
Solicitor → estate agent
The family home is valued and put up for sale.
3
Solicitor → financial adviser
Beneficiaries want advice on what to do with what they inherit.
4
Financial adviser → mortgage broker
One beneficiary uses an inheritance as a deposit and needs a mortgage.

Examples only. Which referrals happen depends on the client, and on which firms hold your postcode area.

Your client stays anonymous until the firm accepts

Referrals are sent and answered in your member account. Nobody at PCN reads them or passes them on by hand. The full referral process

1

Send a summaryChoose the profession. PCN routes it to the member who holds your client’s postcode area. You describe the need without naming the client, and confirm they agreed to be referred.

2

The firm accepts or declinesThey see the summary and the postcode area, nothing else. If they don’t answer, PCN reminds them, and after 5 working days it comes back to you to send elsewhere.

3

Details are sharedOnly when the firm accepts do you add the client’s name and contact details. Both firms get an email, and the referral stays in both accounts.

Member account

Referrals

New referral

ProfessionAccountant

Client's postcode areaCF (Cardiff)

Goes toThe accountant who holds CF

What does the client need?

Couple in their late fifties selling a rented flat. They want help with the capital gains tax return on the sale.

My client agreed to be referred to another firm.

Send referral

Don’t include names or contact details here. You add them once the firm accepts.

Member account

Referrals

New referral for you

FromA financial adviser in CF

Client's postcode areaCF (Cardiff)

ReceivedToday, 10:42

Couple in their late fifties selling a rented flat. They want help with the capital gains tax return on the sale.

Accept referralDecline

Client details appear here after you accept. PCN reminds you after 2 working days if you haven’t answered, and returns the referral to the sender after 5.

Member account

Referrals

Referral acceptedAccepted

ClientName shown to the firm

PhonePhone shown to the firm

EmailEmail shown to the firm

Client consentConfirmed by the referring firm

Both firms have an email with the details. From here, you contact the client as you normally would.

The rules every member agrees to

They’re the same for all five professions, and they’re written into the membership terms.

One firm per profession in each postcode area
Each firm holds one postcode area. While you hold it, no other firm in your profession can join there.
The client agrees before any referral
Every referral needs the sender to confirm the client has agreed to be passed on.
The client stays anonymous until the firm accepts
The receiving firm sees a summary and the postcode area. Names and contact details follow only after it accepts.
PCN takes nothing from referrals
There’s no fee per referral. If two members agree a fee between themselves, it’s theirs to agree and to disclose under their own regulator’s rules.
You can leave, and unused areas reopen
You leave from your account, with no call to make. Your area, or one held by an account that’s been inactive for 12 months, then reopens for the next firm in that profession automatically.

Who runs PCN

PCN is run by Independent Check Ltd, a UK company formed in 2012. It makes guides, videos and websites for advisers, accountants and solicitors.

Company no.: 08302295
ICO registration: ZA389829
Phone: 0800 246 1094
Email: info@independentcheck.co.uk

Hold your postcode area

Membership is free. PCN charges nothing to join and takes nothing from referrals.

1
Check your area
See whether your profession is open in your postcode area.
2
Create your profile
Your firm’s details and the postcode area you hold. It takes about five minutes.
3
Send and receive referrals
Start as soon as other professions in your area join. Until then, no one in your profession can take your area.

Your profession

Postcode area

Firm name

Your name

Work email

I agree to the membership terms

Next you create your login. Your area is held for 48 hours while you confirm it from the email we send.

Questions firms ask before joining

Anything else, call the Independent Check team on 0800 246 1094.

All questions

What if no one else in my area has joined yet?

Then no referrals will come to you yet, and we’d rather say so now. Referrals start when firms from the other professions in your postcode area join.

What you get straight away is the area itself: while you hold it, no other firm in your profession can join there.

Who sees my client’s details?

Only the firm that accepts the referral. Before that, it sees your summary and the client’s postcode area. You confirm the client agreed to the referral each time you send one.

Will this cause a problem with my regulator?

PCN doesn’t pay or charge anything per referral. If two members agree a fee between themselves, it’s theirs to agree and disclose under their own rules.

Those are COBS 2.3 and 2.3A for financial advisers and MCOB for mortgage brokers. Accountants follow the ICAEW, ICAS or ACCA code, and estate agents follow NTSELAT guidance. Solicitors follow the SRA Code (paragraphs 5.1 to 5.3), and personal injury referral fees are banned. More on regulators

Do I have to send a set number of referrals?

No. There are no targets. You refer a client when it’s right for them.

How much does it cost, and can I leave?

Membership is free. PCN charges nothing to join and takes nothing from referrals.

You can leave at any time from your account. Your postcode area then reopens for the next firm in your profession.

Why does Independent Check run it?

Independent Check makes guides, videos and websites for financial advisers, accountants and solicitors, so it already works with three of the five professions. PCN connects them, with estate agents and mortgage brokers, so they can refer clients to each other. More about Independent Check