Useful planning is not the same thing as regulated advice or approval.

01 · Platform purpose

Understand first, then decide what level of help is needed.

The Finance Place provides general information, calculators, checklists, scenario comparisons, preparation journeys and a personal Money Plan. These features are designed to help organise a position and expose trade-offs before a customer chooses whether to ask for professional help.

The current Phase 1 platform is not presented as providing a personalised regulated recommendation. It should not be treated as deciding that a particular lender, product, policy, investment, regulated service or professional is suitable for a customer.

Different introductions sit under different regulatory rules. A mortgage introduction, insurance/protection introduction, consumer-credit lead and investment/pension introduction should not be assumed to have the same regulatory treatment simply because each is described as a referral.

02 · Mortgages, property & personal borrowing

A planning calculation is not a lender decision.

• Mortgage repayments, LTVs, stress tests, deposit targets and affordability-style budget views are arithmetic or planning illustrations.
• They do not establish how much a lender will offer, whether an application will pass credit/underwriting, or whether a particular product is available.
• Lenders can assess income, expenditure, credit history, property, age, residency, term, source of deposit and many other criteria differently.
• Securing borrowing against a home changes the risk and should not be judged solely by a lower monthly payment.
• Mortgage, equity-release and other regulated recommendations should be made by appropriately qualified and authorised professionals where required.

The internal workflow for first-time-buyer, home-mover and remortgage introductions can record a selected partner, pre-introduction compliance basis and any required introducer-payment/relationship disclosure. Those routes are currently on HOLD: the existence of the workflow is not permission to make a regulated introduction, and no route should be enabled until its actual legal/regulatory basis, partner and disclosure are approved.

03 · Business finance

Business tools compare assumptions; they do not promise funding.

Business Funding, Asset Finance, Commercial Property and Business Finance Comparison journeys help a business define the requirement, model repayments/costs and organise evidence. They do not constitute an offer of credit, lender affordability result or recommendation of a funding structure.

Actual terms can depend on the business, directors, trading history, security, asset/property, accounts, cash flow, sector and funder policy. Tax and accounting treatment can also differ between structures.

“Business” or “commercial” does not automatically mean unregulated. Borrower type, legal form, property use, security and the particular credit agreement can affect the regulatory position, so the referral is classified before a partner route is cleared.

04 · Tax, accounting & legal information

Estimates and organisers are not definitive tax or legal advice.

Property-tax calculators and tax/accounting organisers can help someone understand likely cash requirements and prepare information, but exemptions, reliefs, residence status, ownership structure, transaction details and changes in law can alter the answer.

• Confirm property-purchase tax with the relevant authority, conveyancer or suitable tax professional before relying on the figure.
• Accounting/tax pages do not prepare or file returns and do not replace an accountant where professional work is needed.
• Estate, wills, ownership and transaction guidance is general information rather than legal advice.

05 · Protection, pensions, investments & later life

Quantifying a gap is different from recommending a product.

Protection tools can estimate a financial need or shortfall. Retirement and long-term planners can model goals and contributions. Those illustrations do not determine product suitability, tax consequences, investment risk tolerance, policy eligibility or the correct level/type of regulated cover.

Life insurance, critical illness, income protection, pensions, investments and later-life borrowing can require personalised advice. Where regulated advice is appropriate, it should come from an appropriately authorised professional.

The planned initial Finance Place professional request is deliberately kept high-level. Detailed insurance proposal/medical information or investment suitability information should be provided directly to the appropriately authorised professional where they need it, rather than treating the TFP introduction form as an advice or underwriting form.

06 · Professional introductions

Introduction intake is currently closed.

The Finance Place contact and professional-introduction service remains on launch HOLD while the legal controller, privacy position, partner arrangements and route-specific regulatory basis are completed. No customer contact details can currently be submitted through the public introduction form.

When the service is deliberately opened, a customer request will come to The Finance Place first. TFP will review only the information the customer has chosen to share and come back about a next step. The Phase 1 service is not an open public directory, partner marketplace or automatic routing engine.

This routing process does not determine that a particular firm, adviser, product or service is suitable for the customer. The professional must carry out any checks, fact-finding, eligibility assessment, regulated advice or recommendation required for the service they provide.

If The Finance Place later arranges an introduction and a referral payment applies, the relevant relationship or payment will be explained before the introduction where required. Any fees or charges payable by the customer for regulated advice or another professional service must be explained by the provider of that service before the customer proceeds.

An introduction does not guarantee that the professional will accept the case, recommend a particular solution, obtain funding or achieve a stated outcome.

The Finance Place should not reproduce a partner's product, rate, return or investment promotion merely because that partner is authorised. Any communication that becomes a financial promotion needs its own communication/approval/exemption review and must be fair, clear and not misleading.

07 · Financial difficulty

Planning tools are not emergency or specialist debt-support services.

If someone is struggling to pay essential household costs, mortgage/rent, priority debts or is already in arrears, taking more borrowing may not be the right next step. The Finance Place financial-pressure journeys are designed to prioritise the issue, but they do not replace specialist debt, arrears, legal or insolvency support.

Where urgent or regulated support is needed, use an appropriate free debt-support organisation, lender/creditor support channel or qualified professional rather than relying only on a calculator.

08 · Assumptions, rates & updates

Recheck the facts when a decision becomes real.

• Interest rates, lender criteria, tax bands, government schemes, regulation and provider terms can change.
• A saved Money Plan records the assumptions entered at that time; it does not automatically turn an old assumption into a current fact.
• Scenario comparisons deliberately show “what if” outcomes and should not be read as forecasts.
• Before committing to a transaction, application, policy or investment, confirm the current facts with the relevant provider, authority or professional.