General tips

Use your common sense

Be aware that newspapers, magazines and websites carrying adverts may be biased towards firms that spend money with them. You should also take ‘award–winning' claims with a pinch of salt, unless you know their source.

Financial adverts will give you some information, but remember, they are adverts and will promote the benefits of a product – see Financial advertising

Keep your paperwork safe

Check your bank statements regularly and make sure all transactions they list are yours. Contact your bank immediately if anything is wrong.

Check all your paperwork and keep it safe – this includes keeping photocopies of any completed forms, letters and papers you send off to a firm.

Buying a financial product

When buying insurance, getting a mortgage or financial advice, always make sure that the firm you use is on our Register before handing over your money. If they aren’t regulated by us and things go wrong, you won't have access to complaints and compensation procedures. To find out if a firm is on our Register, see Check our Register

You can use an adviser to help you shop around, but you need to be clear on the limits of their advice. Some advisers can tell you about all the products on the market, some will tell you about a limited number of providers’ products from a panel they use, and some advisers will only tell you about their own company’s products – see Getting financial advice

Proving your identity

Financial firms need to check you are who you say you are to prevent money laundering and fraud. While it may be irritating to have to provide documents to prove your identity and your address, it is for your protection as much as theirs. For more information get a free copy of our Proving your identity booklet. You can download it online – see Publications