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Some professional firms are permitted to perform limited regulated financial activities in addition to their normal professional services.
The professional firms most likely to undertake some regulated activities as incidental services in addition to their normal professional services include solicitors, accountants and chartered surveyors. These are known as an ‘exempt professional firm’ (EPF).
This means a professional firm does not have to be authorised by us or an agent of a regulated firm to carry out certain types of business, such as a law firm dealing with the life insurance policy of a deceased person.
Exempt professional firms are not authorised by us and you therefore will not have access to the Financial Ombudsman Service or the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) if things go wrong. However, EPFs must be members of a professional body which sets the standards they have to meet, and the firm may be covered by complaint and compensation arrangements of their appropriate professional body.
You can also find out more about EPF on the Register, or search for an EPF now by its DPB reference number, EPF reference number or firm name and postcode:
By DPB reference number
By EPF reference number
By Firm name and Post code