No list of equity release companies to avoid stays accurate for long, so check the firm itself: FCA permission, Council membership, legal advice and fees.

The checks below work on any firm that offers, arranges or advises on equity release, this year or next. Prefer to go through them out loud? Give a few basic details, such as your name and phone number, in this page's short form; after that, a qualified equity release adviser calls you at no cost.

Equity release companies to avoid: any firm without the right FCA permission

Start with the register. The FCA's guidance is plain: "If a firm isn’t authorised or doesn’t have permission for the financial services you’re looking for, you should avoid dealing with them." Equity release is on its list of home finance products that need an authorised firm, and the Equity Release Council adds that it can only be taken out with the help of a specialist adviser.

On the FCA's Firm Checker, search by name, choose the service, and confirm the firm is authorised and has permission for it. Check too that the firm reference number (FRN) and contact details you were given match the Firm Checker. Some firms are appointed representatives acting for another firm, their principal; if you have concerns about what one can offer, the FCA says to check with the principal. Choosing an equity release adviser covers qualifications and range.

When the firm is a clone

"Fraudsters sometimes say they work for genuine, authorised firms," the FCA warns, copying a real firm's name, address or FRN. Some claim the register's contact details are out of date; the FCA calls that unlikely, as it updates the register and the Firm Checker on average every 24 hours (page last updated 14 May 2025). Ring the number printed there, not the one you were given. The Firm Checker cannot confirm that Ombudsman or FSCS protection will definitely apply, so it is the first check, not the only one.

Red flags in how you are approached

The FCA's scams guidance (last updated 19 January 2026) says to treat any unexpected call, email or text with caution, and notes that "Scammers often call out of the blue." If you feel pressured to act quickly, its advice is to hang up or ignore the message. A genuine business will wait while you think, and a confident claim to be authorised proves nothing until you have checked. The pension version of these tactics is in how pension scams work.

An offer to buy your home and rent it back

Sale and rent back is not equity release. The FCA describes homeowners selling at a discounted price on the understanding that they can stay on as tenants for a set period, and in a press release of 13 June 2023 warned: "Rent payments can go up during the tenancy and people may be evicted if they fall behind on payments." Under FCA rules, written promotions from regulated sale and rent back firms must generally carry this warning: "If you enter into a sale and rent back agreement you are unlikely to get the market value of your home and, as a tenant, may only be able to remain there for a limited period." Equity release means a lifetime mortgage or a home reversion plan (see the types of equity release); a firm vague about which it is proposing has given you a reason to walk away.

Council membership and the solicitor's check

By its own account the Equity Release Council is a voluntary trade body. Its Standards (version 2.0, May 2025) bind members, not every firm. Check its members directory alongside the Firm Checker, not instead of it. Under those Standards, provider members cannot take execution-only business, so every sale must be advised, and advisers who are members may not take financial inducements from a third party involved in the application, such as a provider or solicitor, when sending a customer to another service. The Council's standards explained covers the rest.

Legal advice is the second safeguard. The Standards require independent legal advice before a customer first takes out equity release, and a solicitor's certificate, signed by solicitor and customer, must confirm the advice was given and that the customer has mental capacity and is free of duress or undue influence. Be wary of any firm that treats this as a formality; equity release solicitors explains the role.

Fees, and what any plan will cost you

Get every charge in writing, including anything payable if the plan does not complete. The Standards require members to disclose charges, including fees for arrears, early repayment and other services, before you proceed with a recommended product. Typical costs are in equity release fees.

Any plan also carries lasting costs, explained in how equity release works:

  • Unless you choose to make repayments, interest is added to the loan, and the longer the loan runs the more it grows.
  • Your estate shrinks: your heirs get what remains after the loan is repaid, or the part of the home you kept.
  • Entitlement to means-tested benefits, council tax reductions and local authority grants may change.
  • Plans can be hard to change and may carry an early repayment charge; see repaying equity release early.
  • Council members' lifetime mortgages must meet product standards, including interest fixed or, if variable, capped for the life of the loan, the right to stay in your home, and a no-negative-equity guarantee.
  • Scottish homes differ: the lender takes a standard security instead of a mortgage charge.

Each of those turns on your own home, age and family. Request a call-back on the enquiry form if you want a qualified equity release adviser to weigh them with you.

What the FCA is reviewing in later-life lending

This is work in progress, not new rules. On 20 March 2026 the FCA launched a market study (MS26/1) into lifetime and retirement interest only (RIO) mortgages, including the role of standard mortgage advisers and other financial advisers in later-life borrowing.

Its page, last updated 4 June 2026, says: "We intend to publish our interim findings in Q4 2026." The FCA's December 2025 feedback statement (FS25/6) also lists work during 2026 on options for more holistic advice. Until outcomes are published, the checks above are the ones that count.

Complaining about an equity release firm

The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) looks at equity release complaints, including where "you – or a relative – may think you were vulnerable and wrongly talked into equity release". Complain to the firm first; if its reply does not settle it, you can take the complaint to the Ombudsman, whose service is free. For most complaints a business has up to 8 weeks to consider it, and "You will need to make a complaint to us within 6 months from the date on your final response."

This is why permission comes first. The FCA puts it directly: "If you deal with a firm that isn't authorised or doesn't have permission for the activities you need, you won’t have access to the Financial Ombudsman if you want to complain." Nor would the FSCS protect you if that firm went out of business.

Before you trust a firm: what readers ask

Which equity release companies should I avoid?

Any firm without FCA authorisation and permission for equity release, and any that cold-calls, hurries you or plays down independent legal advice. Permissions can change, so check the Firm Checker on the day rather than relying on an old list.

Is an Equity Release Council logo enough?

No. Council membership is voluntary and binds members to its Standards; FCA authorisation and permission are a separate check on the Firm Checker. Use both.

What if a caller says the Firm Checker details are wrong?

Treat it as a warning sign, because the FCA says clone firms make exactly that claim. If no contact details are listed, or the firm says they are out of date, the FCA asks you to call it on 0800 111 6768.

Is equity release right for you in the first place? The alternatives and is equity release a good idea help you weigh that; if pension savings are part of the picture, see what Pension Wise offers. To discuss your own plans with a qualified equity release adviser, leave your number with us using the form; the call is free.

Sources: FCA pages on scams (updated 19 January 2026), clone firms (14 May 2025) and checking a firm (22 September 2026), the Firm Checker, MS26/1 (updated 4 June 2026), FS25/6 (December 2025), press release of 13 June 2023 and MCOB 3A.8; Equity Release Council, Our Standards, Members Directory and Standards V2.0 (May 2025); MoneyHelper, What is equity release; Financial Ombudsman Service; and the Conveyancing and Feudal Reform (Scotland) Act 1970, s9(3). Read 22 October 2026.