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Terms and conditions

Last updated: 7 October 2026

Who we are

The Professional Connections Network (PCN) is run by Independent Check Limited, a company registered in England and Wales (company no. 08302295), whose registered office is at Celtic House, Caxton Place, Cardiff CF23 8HA. In these terms, “we” means Independent Check Limited. “You” means the firm that joins and the person who signs up for it.

What PCN is

PCN connects one accountant, estate agent, financial adviser, mortgage broker and solicitor in each UK postcode area, so they can refer clients to each other. PCN passes referral summaries between firms. It does not give legal, financial or tax advice, and it does not take instructions from clients.

Joining

  • Membership is for firms in one of the five professions. When you join, you give your firm name, profession, postcode area and your regulator and registration number. These details must be true and kept up to date.
  • There is no approval step. If a firm gives false details or isn’t in the profession it chose, we can end its membership.
  • Each firm holds one postcode area, and each postcode area has one firm per profession. A new place is held for 48 hours while you confirm it from the email we send. If you don’t confirm it in time, it opens again.
  • To move to another open area, use your profile. Your old area opens straight away. Referrals waiting on it go back to the firms that sent them.

Price

Membership is free. PCN takes no fee from referrals and pays none.

If we ever decide to charge, we will email members at least 30 days before. Nobody pays anything unless they choose to stay on the new terms.

Sending and receiving referrals

  • Before you send a referral, your client must agree to be referred. You confirm this on every referral, and we keep that record with it.
  • A referral starts as a short summary with no names, contact details, full postcodes or dates of birth. The site checks for these and stops the referral until they are removed. Please don’t try to get around the check.
  • The firm that holds the client’s postcode area for that profession accepts or declines. If it hasn’t answered after 2 working days, it gets a reminder. After 5 working days, the referral comes back to you, with no client details shared.
  • Once a firm accepts, you add the client’s details. Only that firm can see them. From then on, the client’s matter is between the client and the two firms.
  • Nobody at PCN reads referrals or checks the advice or service a firm gives. Each firm is responsible for its own work, its own regulatory duties and its own professional indemnity insurance.
  • If two firms agree a fee or other benefit for referrals between themselves, that is their own arrangement. They must make sure it is allowed and disclosed under their own rules. Examples are COBS 2.3 and 2.3A for financial advisers, MCOB for mortgage brokers, the SRA Code for solicitors, the ICAEW, ICAS or ACCA codes for accountants, and NTSELAT guidance for estate agents.
  • There are no targets. You never have to send or accept a referral.

Client information you pass through PCN

  • Your firm is the controller of its clients’ information. You must have a lawful basis to share it, and the client’s agreement to be referred.
  • We carry client details between the two firms on your behalf and use them for nothing else. We keep them secure and delete them 90 days after they are shared.
  • If a client asks you about their information, tell us and we will help you answer.

Introductions, connections and the member directory

  • When a firm joins your postcode area, or you join, we introduce you to the other firms in that area by email and on your dashboard.
  • Your firm’s profile appears in the member directory, which only logged-in members can see. You can switch the listing off in your profile.
  • Your phone number and contact email are shown only to firms you are connected with and to the other firms in your postcode area. Connection requests you don’t answer close after 30 days.

Member offers

  • Members can post one offer at a time to other members, for up to 12 months. Each offer belongs to the firm that posts it. That firm sets the terms and honours them. We don’t check offers or stand behind them.
  • Offers must be lawful, accurate and suitable for other professional firms. If three members report an offer, it is hidden until the firm edits it.

Leaving, and when an area reopens

  • You can leave at any time from your account page. Your postcode area then opens for the next firm in your profession. Referrals waiting on you go back to their senders.
  • If nobody logs in to your firm’s account for 12 months, the area opens again. We email a warning after 11 months.
  • We can suspend or end a membership that breaks these terms. Examples are putting client details in a summary, misusing another firm’s contact details or posting misleading offers.

Using the site

Don’t try to get into another firm’s account, copy the member directory, send unsolicited marketing to members, or interfere with how the site works. We limit repeated failed logins and form sends to protect the site.

Our responsibility to you

We run PCN with reasonable care and skill. We can’t promise it will always be available, or that any referrals will come to you. We are not responsible for the advice, services or offers of member firms, or for agreements between members.

PCN is a free service for businesses. So we are not liable for loss of profit, business, goodwill or data, or for indirect loss. Our total liability to you for anything to do with PCN is limited to £100.

Nothing in these terms limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or for anything else the law doesn’t allow to be limited.

Your information

The privacy notice explains what PCN stores, who can see it and how long it is kept.

Changes to these terms

If we change these terms, we will email members at least 30 days before the change applies. The date at the top shows the latest version.

Law

These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales. The courts of England and Wales deal with any dispute.

Contact

Questions about these terms: info@independentcheck.co.uk or 0800 246 1094 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm).