Choosing a personal injury solicitor: your checklist

After an accident that wasn't your fault, the single most important decision you make is who represents you. The right solicitor explains your options clearly, runs the claim properly and protects your compensation; the wrong one can leave you confused about costs or stuck with a firm you didn't really choose. The good news is that the checks are quick, mostly free, and entirely within your control. This page summarises what to look for, and our detailed guide takes each point further.

One principle runs through everything below: this site is information, not legal advice. We are an independent educational resource, not a law firm or a claims-management company. We don't pick a solicitor for you — we explain how to find a regulated one and decide for yourself.

Your right to choose

You are free to instruct any solicitor you like. You are not obliged to use a firm recommended by your own insurer, the other side's insurer, a broker, a garage or a claims-management company (CMC) — even if they contact you first and make it sound like the natural next step. Referral arrangements are common, but they are for the businesses' benefit, not necessarily yours, and accepting one is always optional. It is your claim, so take the time to choose a firm on its merits rather than because it rang you. If you are unsure of your rights here, Citizens Advice offers free, impartial guidance.

How to check a solicitor is genuine

Anyone offering to handle your injury claim as a solicitor should be regulated. Two free, official tools let you confirm that in minutes:

• The SRA register. The Solicitors Regulation Authority publishes a searchable register showing whether a firm or individual is currently authorised and regulated. If they don't appear on it, do not proceed.
• The Law Society's Find a Solicitor. The Law Society runs a free Find a Solicitor directory where you can confirm a firm's details and search specifically for solicitors who hold Personal Injury accreditation under the Law Society's accreditation scheme. Accreditation signals genuine, assessed experience in injury work rather than a firm dabbling in it.

Prefer a solicitor whose day-to-day work is personal injury and, where possible, who handles your particular type of claim — a road-traffic case, an accident at work or a medical-negligence matter can each call for different expertise. Browse our claim types to see where your situation fits.

Questions to ask before you instruct

A good firm will welcome these questions and answer them plainly. Ask them at the free initial assessment, before you sign anything:

1. How much experience do you have with my type of claim? Look for a track record in cases like yours, not just personal injury generally.
2. Who will actually handle my case? Will it be a qualified solicitor or a paralegal, and who is my day-to-day contact?
3. What funding agreement applies, and is there a success fee? Most claims run on a no-win-no-fee (Conditional Fee) basis; the success fee is capped at 25% of certain damages, but get the exact figure in writing.
4. Is After-the-Event (ATE) insurance needed, and what does it cost? ATE can protect you against paying the other side's costs if the claim fails.
5. How long is my claim likely to take? Ask for a realistic timescale and what could affect it.
6. How will you keep me updated? Agree how often you'll hear from them and how to reach them.
7. What would I have to pay if I lose? Confirm in writing that, under a properly arranged no-win-no-fee agreement with insurance in place, the answer is normally nothing.

Our guides on no win, no fee and how compensation is valued explain the money side in more depth, while claim time limits covers the deadlines that apply before you can claim at all.

If something goes wrong

If you are unhappy with the service you receive, raise it with the firm first — every regulated solicitor must have a complaints procedure and should tell you how to use it. If they don't resolve your complaint, or you don't hear back within eight weeks, you can escalate a service complaint to the Legal Ombudsman, which is free and independent. Concerns about a solicitor's professional conduct or honesty — rather than the quality of service — should go to the SRA. Knowing these routes exist is part of choosing well: a properly regulated firm sits within a safety net that an unregulated outfit does not.

Frequently asked questions