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The Assurance Desk

Peers Quality Assurance Limited (PQAL) review

Certification body

A UK certification body accredited by UKAS for ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO/IEC 27001 and ISO 45001. It is not accredited for ISO/IEC 42001, the AI management standard.

Relevant if you want UKAS-accredited ISO/IEC 27001 certification and published rules on auditor impartiality

Price Not published
Indemnity cover Not published
How it uses AI Not published
Facts last checked

Not published means we did not find it on the firm's own pages.

Peers Quality Assurance scores

Six scores, each 1 to 5. The evidence for each is further down.

Help when things go wrong 3/5
Qualifications of the people who do the work 4/5
What it publishes about fees 1/5
Knowledge of your sector 3/5
Independence from what it sells 5/5
Who carries the risk if the advice is wrong 2/5

What Peers Quality Assurance offers, and what it publishes

You get UKAS-accredited certification to ISO/IEC 27001:2022, ISO 9001, ISO 14001 or ISO 45001. Its impartiality statement bars its offices from consultancy partnerships and keeps auditors off any client they advised or trained in the previous two years. It has been a registered SSIP (Safety Schemes in Procurement) member since October 2020.

Peers Quality Assurance does not publish a price or explain how fees are set. Its terms list only cancellation fees for rescheduled audits. It does not publish professional indemnity insurance. Its terms cap its liability at what you paid it, and exclude consequential loss and any responsibility for your regulatory compliance.

Peers Quality Assurance does not name its lead auditors or publish audit case studies. We searched for reports of UKAS suspending or withdrawing its accreditation and found none, which is not the same as a clean record. Its Trustpilot page has one review, dated 11 September 2026, a five-star account of an ISO 27001 recertification.

Strengths

  • Live, verifiable UKAS accreditation (ref. 9940, current schedule Issue No. 033, 25 June 2026) confirms genuine third-party oversight for ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certification, not a self-declared or expired claim.
  • A detailed, published Impartiality Statement bars consultancy partnerships and imposes a two-year auditor cooling-off period, with an independent Impartiality Committee named as the governance safeguard.
  • A member of Safety Schemes in Procurement (SSIP), for health and safety assessments.

Things to check

  • PQAL's current UKAS accreditation does not cover ISO/IEC 42001 (AI management systems), only ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO/IEC 27001 and ISO 45001 appear on its live schedule, though to its credit PQAL does not market an ISO 42001 service it lacks accreditation for.
  • Ask for a quote and what could change it. The pages we checked did not explain how certification fees are worked out.
  • No professional indemnity insurance is disclosed, and PQAL's own terms cap its liability at the amount the client paid it, while excluding consequential loss and any responsibility for the client's regulatory compliance.
  • No independently reported record exists either way of any UKAS enforcement action (suspension/withdrawal) against PQAL's own accreditation, and PQAL publishes no audit-outcome case studies or named lead auditors to evidence its track record under scrutiny.

Common questions

Does PQAL publish its certification fees?

No. Its website gives no certification prices or fee model. Its terms and conditions set out only cancellation fees for rescheduled audits.

Is PQAL accredited for ISO/IEC 27001?

Yes. Its UKAS schedule, reference 9940, issue 033, dated 25 June 2026, lists ISO/IEC 27001:2022 information security management certification as a current accredited scope.

Is PQAL accredited for ISO/IEC 42001?

No. Its UKAS schedule, issue 033 dated 25 June 2026, does not include ISO/IEC 42001, and its website does not offer an ISO 42001 service.

Does PQAL carry professional indemnity insurance?

It does not say. Its website does not mention it, and its terms cap its liability at the amount you paid PQAL, excluding consequential loss.

Evidence for each Peers Quality Assurance score

Show our working

Notes behind each thing to check

  • PQAL's current UKAS accreditation does not cover ISO/IEC 42001 (AI management systems), only ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO/IEC 27001 and ISO 45001 appear on its live schedule, though to its credit PQAL does not market an ISO 42001 service it lacks accreditation for. (UKAS Schedule of Accreditation, ref. 9940, Issue No. 033, 25 June 2026 (https://www.ukas.com/wp-content/uploads/schedule_uploads/00011/04947/9940Management-Systems.pdf), checked page by page for a 42001 entry, none found.)
  • Ask for a quote and what could change it. The pages we checked did not explain how certification fees are worked out. (Checked pqal.co.uk homepage, /iso-27001/, and /certification-and-audit-process/ pages; only cancellation-fee percentages for rescheduled audits appear in the Terms and Conditions, with no basis given for certification fees themselves.)
  • No professional indemnity insurance is disclosed, and PQAL's own terms cap its liability at the amount the client paid it, while excluding consequential loss and any responsibility for the client's regulatory compliance. (PQAL Terms and Conditions (https://www.pqal.co.uk/terms-and-conditions/): "the liability of PQAL to the applicant/client shall not exceed the amount paid by the applicant/client to PQAL"; no PI insurance mentioned anywhere on the site.)
  • No independently reported record exists either way of any UKAS enforcement action (suspension/withdrawal) against PQAL's own accreditation, and PQAL publishes no audit-outcome case studies or named lead auditors to evidence its track record under scrutiny. (Targeted web search for PQAL/UKAS suspension, withdrawal or complaint action returned no results; absence noted honestly rather than treated as a clean record.)
Six criteria, each scored 1 to 5, with the evidence for each.
CriterionScoreEvidence
Help when things go wrong 3/5 PQAL's Terms and Conditions set out a certificate suspension/withdrawal procedure with a seven-day client appeal right and reference a separate complaints/appeals process, but no audit-outcome case studies or named lead auditors are published, and no independently reported UKAS enforcement action against PQAL's own accreditation was found either way in this search.
Qualifications of the people who do the work 4/5 Live UKAS accreditation (ref. 9940, Issue No. 033, 25 June 2026, fetched directly from ukas.com) confirms current, genuine accreditation to ISO/IEC 17021-1:2015 with ISO/IEC 27001:2022 ISMS certification in scope, but the scope is narrow (four standards plus one sector scheme, single UK location) and no individual auditor credentials are named on PQAL's site.
What it publishes about fees 1/5 No certification pricing or general fee-model description was found anywhere on pqal.co.uk, including its ISO/IEC 27001 service page; only unrelated audit-rescheduling cancellation fees appear in the Terms and Conditions.
Knowledge of your sector 3/5 PQAL holds a genuine sector-specific credential beyond a generic ISO menu, registered SSIP member since October 2020 (independently confirmed on ssip.org.uk) with approved SSIP categories listed on its UKAS schedule, but no named sector specialists or published sector case studies were found.
Independence from what it sells 5/5 Published Impartiality Statement explicitly bars PQAL offices from consultancy partnerships, excludes any auditor who consulted for or trained a client within the prior two years from that client's audit, requires staff to declare financial interests, and cites an independent Impartiality Committee appointed by the directors.
Who carries the risk if the advice is wrong 2/5 No professional indemnity insurance is disclosed anywhere on pqal.co.uk; its own Terms and Conditions cap liability at the amount the client paid PQAL and explicitly exclude consequential loss and responsibility for the client's regulatory compliance.

Sources for Peers Quality Assurance

  • Companies House number for Peers Quality Assurance Limited is confirmed, company is active (10017452, incorporated 22 February 2016, status Active, registered office Suite 3, Rossway Business Centre, Wharf Approach, Aldridge, Walsall, WS9 8BX) (Companies House, checked 19 September 2026)
  • PQAL's current UKAS Schedule of Accreditation number, issue and ISMS scope (UKAS ref. 9940, Schedule Issue No. 033, issued 25 June 2026, accredited to ISO/IEC 17021-1:2015 (and ISO/IEC 27006-1:2024 for the ISMS scheme) to provide management systems certification, with Information Security Management System Certification to ISO/IEC 27001:2022 listed as a current accredited scope, unrestricted (no IAF sector limitation shown for the ISMS table)) (ukas.com, checked 19 September 2026)
  • PQAL publishes an impartiality policy separating certification from consultancy ("PQAL Offices shall not enter into any partnerships to provide consultancy"; auditors are barred from certifying any organisation they provided consultancy or training to within the prior two years, staff must declare financial interests, and an independent Impartiality Committee appointed by the directors oversees the business) (pqal.co.uk, checked 19 September 2026)
  • PQAL is a registered SSIP (Safety Schemes in Procurement) member, a genuine sector scheme beyond its core ISO menu (Registered SSIP member since October 2020; UKAS schedule confirms approved SSIP categories (SSIP Approved, Contractor, Principal Contractor, Designer, Principal Designer, Groups) under ISO 45001) (ssip.org.uk, checked 19 September 2026)
  • PQAL's live UKAS schedule does not include ISO/IEC 42001 (AI management systems) (The 11-page schedule's full accredited scope is ISO 9001:2015 (QMS), ISO 14001:2015 (EMS), ISO/IEC 27001:2022 (ISMS) and ISO 45001:2018 (HSMS) plus one SSIP sector scheme, no ISO/IEC 42001 entry appears anywhere in the document, and PQAL's own website markets no ISO 42001 service) (ukas.com, checked 19 September 2026)
  • Trustpilot: PQAL has a claimed Trustpilot profile (claimed July 2022) with a 3.7 TrustScore from a single review. The one review, dated 11 September 2026, is a positive 5-star account of an ISO 27001 recertification and ISO 9001 certification, praising transparent audit-day-calculation explanations and responsive staff (named: Chris Byrom, Emma Horder, Hafza Rasheed) and a well-prepared assessor. With only one review and no recent history of inviting reviews, Trustpilot itself flags the profile as not yet representative. (Trustpilot, checked 20 September 2026)

UKAS-accredited (ref. 9940) to ISO/IEC 17021-1:2015 and ISO/IEC 27006-1:2024 for the ISMS scheme, Schedule Issue No. 033, dated 25 June 2026, covering ISO/IEC 27001:2022, ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015 and ISO 45001:2018 certification (stated on ukas.com) Registered SSIP (Safety Schemes in Procurement) member since October 2020, with approved SSIP categories listed under ISO 45001 on PQAL's UKAS schedule (stated on ssip.org.uk)

Seeking ISO 42001 certificationRegulated sectors

Where this firm appears

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This is an independent editorial guide, not legal advice.