Personal Injury Accreditation Scheme
Introduction
More than 3 million people are injured in accidents each year—on the road, at work, at home or elsewhere. In many cases, someone else is at fault.
If you have been injured in an accident that wasn't your fault, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries and loss of earnings.
The Personal Injury Accreditation Scheme aims to put you in touch with legal practitioners who provide advice on and assistance with claims arising from personal injury. Scheme members can also provide advice to relatives of people who have been fatally injured.
Many scheme members offer a free half-hour consultation. You can use this advice session to find out
- whether you have a case
- how to go about claiming
- how much you might be able to claim
- whether the solicitor will work on a "no win no fee" basis
Only solicitors and legal executives who meet the SRA's strict requirements are permitted to join the scheme. When you see the Personal Injury Accreditation Scheme logo, you'll know that the practitioner's skills, knowledge and experience have been rigorously and independently assessed.
Information for solicitors and legal executives
If you are a solicitor or Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives and are interested in becoming a member, please read
- the Professional accreditation schemes application criteria and guidance notes (PDF 80K), and
- the Personal Injury Accreditation Scheme criteria and guidance notes (PDF 141K).
Then, download, complete and submit the application (PDF 32K) and the case reports (PDF 25K).
Briefly, you will need
- approximately three years of experience of personal injury matters
- to have conducted at least 36 personal injury cases in the past three years
- to submit an application covering all aspects of your personal injury practice and the procedures operated by your firm (applications are assessed by independent practitioners)
Detailed information
The SRA requires solicitors to undertake continuing professional development (CPD) activities. See the CPD requirements for Personal Injury Accreditation Scheme members.
See information for scheme members who move firms.
If you are already a scheme member, view information about maintaining membership, known as re-accreditation.
The practice management standards with which firms are required to comply appear in the Personal Injury Accreditation Scheme criteria and guidance notes (PDF 141K).
Useful links
Solicitors and barristers work with the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) for law reform to improve access to justice.
The SRA operates a dedicated website for scheme members, providing secure access to the Personal Injury Accreditation Scheme logo.
Find a Personal Injury Accreditation Scheme member
To search by postcode or location for solicitors' firms with a Personal Injury Accreditation Scheme member, click the link below.
When the search screen opens, enter your postcode or location, specify any further criteria (e.g. wheelchair access), and click search.
Search by postcode for firms with Personal Injury Accreditation Scheme members
- Firms are listed in ascending distance order (in miles) from your specified postcode or location.
- To consult firm details, click on the name of the firm.
Continuing professional development
All solicitors undertake appropriate training and development activities every year, as stipulated by the SRA's continuing professional development (CPD) requirements.
Members of the Personal Injury Accreditation Scheme are required to accumulate at least six CPD hours of personal injury-related training per year.
Moving firms
If you are a Personal Injury Accreditation Scheme member and you move between firms during your membership, you may need to apply for reselection.
You will not need to apply for reselection if
- a Personal Injury Accreditation Scheme member or a Clinical Negligence Accreditation Scheme member already works at your new firm, or
- your new firm is accredited to the Law Society's Lexcel scheme.
The Personal Injury Accreditation Scheme criteria and guidance notes (PDF 141K) and the application form (PDF 32K) contain full details of the reselection process.
Re-accreditation
Scheme membership doesn't last forever. Every five years, it must be renewed; the process is called re-accreditation.
Re-accreditation is a way of assuring consumers that members of the Personal Injury Accreditation Scheme continue to meet the requirements for membership.
Information for scheme members
If you are a scheme member and think your membership is about to expire, you don't need to do anything. We automatically send you the forms and all of the details you need at least two months before your membership expires.
To ensure the forms reach you promptly, please review your entry in Find a solicitor, and immediately advise us by email if the contact details that appear there are incorrect.
Applications for re-accreditation are assessed by experienced and qualified assessors who—in most instances—have been scheme members for several years.