How to check a mortgage adviser’s FCA number (FRN) in two minutes

Last Updated on September 17, 2026

Every UK mortgage adviser must be authorised by the FCA or work under a firm that is. Ask for their FCA reference number (FRN), search it at register.fca.org.uk, and check the status says Authorised and the permissions cover mortgages. It is free.

Checked on 11 September 2026.

Mortgage advice in the UK is a regulated activity. A firm giving it needs Financial Conduct Authority authorisation, either directly or through a principal firm. The check takes two minutes and costs nothing, yet most borrowers skip it. Whito’s own guide for advisers cites survey data showing around three quarters of borrowers never verify whether their advice source is regulated (trust signals guide).

That gap is exactly what scammers use. The FCA’s Warning List of unauthorised firms held over 18,600 entries when we checked it on 11 September 2026, and clone firms, copies of genuine authorised firms, are a named category on it.

What we checked, 11 September 2026

The two-minute check, step by step

1. Get the FRN. Every authorised firm has a Firm Reference Number, usually six or seven digits. It should be in the adviser’s initial disclosure document, in their email footer, or in their website footer next to wording like “authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority”. If you cannot find one anywhere, stop and ask for it.
2. Search the register. Go to register.fca.org.uk and put the FRN in the search box. Search by number, not by name. Names are easy to copy, numbers point to one record.
3. Check the status. The record should say Authorised (or show the firm as an appointed representative of an authorised principal, more on that below). “No longer authorised” or no record at all means walk away.
4. Check the permissions. Open the firm’s permissions and look for home finance activity, specifically “advising on regulated mortgage contracts”. A firm can be authorised for insurance or investments and still have no permission to advise on mortgages.
5. Check the name matches. The trading name and the legal name on the register should match the name on the paperwork and the website you were given. A real FRN attached to a different firm’s name is the classic clone setup.
6. Call back on the register’s number. Before you transfer any money or send documents, contact the firm using the phone number or website shown on the register, not the details in the email or message that reached you. This is the FCA’s own advice for anyone contacted out of the blue.

What the register proves, and what it does not

It proves:

• The firm is (or is not) authorised to carry on regulated activities in the UK.
• Which activities it holds permission for.
• Whether it is directly authorised or an appointed representative, and who the principal is.
• Whether named individuals hold roles the FCA tracks.

It does not prove:

• That the advice will be good. Authorisation is a licence, not a quality mark.
• That the adviser is cheap. Fees are not on the register. Ask what they charge and whether they also take commission from the lender.
• That the adviser is whole-of-market. Some authorised brokers compare a handful of lenders, some compare most of the market. Ask how many lenders they actually compare and get the answer in writing.

Whito is not a regulator and a Whito listing proves nothing about authorisation. Only the FCA register does that.

Directly authorised vs appointed representative

Many mortgage advisers are not directly authorised. They are appointed representatives (ARs) of a larger principal firm, often a mortgage network. The register shows this clearly on the firm’s record.

An AR arrangement is normal and legitimate. But two things matter:

• The principal carries the responsibility. Complaints and compensation routes generally run through the principal firm, so note who the principal is.
• The AR must stay inside its permitted scope. The FCA’s own guidance says protection from the Financial Ombudsman Service or FSCS may not apply if an AR acts outside what its principal has authorised it to do. If anything about the arrangement is unclear, check with the principal firm directly.

What authorisation gets you if things go wrong

Dealing with an authorised firm buys you two routes that unauthorised firms cannot offer:

• The Financial Ombudsman Service. A free complaints route if the advice or service goes wrong and the firm does not put it right.
• FSCS compensation. If the firm fails and you lost money to bad mortgage advice given on or after 31 October 2004, FSCS can pay up to £85,000 per person per firm for failures after 1 April 2019. The cover applies to your main UK home, not buy-to-let or commercial property.

Deal with an unauthorised firm and both routes disappear. That is the whole point of the two-minute check.

Red flags

• No FRN anywhere. The website, the email footer and the paperwork all come up empty. A regulated firm displays it.
• The FRN belongs to a different firm name. Search the number and a different company comes up. That is the clone-firm pattern the FCA warns about: real number, fake firm.
• Pressure to pay a “reservation fee” or “rate lock fee” fast. Urgency plus an upfront payment to a personal account is a scam signature, not a mortgage process.
• Contact only via WhatsApp or social media. A real firm has a registered office, a landline on the register, and a working email on its own domain.
• They discourage you from checking. Any version of “the register is out of date” or “we’re on there under a different name” is a reason to stop.
• The record says “no longer authorised”. Past authorisation is not current authorisation.

For advisers: make the check easy

If you run an advice firm, publish your FRN and legal name in your site footer, link the words to your own record on register.fca.org.uk, and add a short “how to check us” line. Whito’s research on AI mortgage adviser recommendations (August 2026) found AI engines lean heavily on third-party validation when naming firms. A checkable FRN is the cheapest validation you own. Three quarters of borrowers will not check it, but the quarter who do are the careful ones you want.

What this page does not cover

• What mortgage advisers charge, or whether their fees are fair.
• Whether you should use a broker at all rather than going direct to a lender.
• Investment, pension or insurance advice, which sit under different permissions.
• Advisers outside the UK, or unregulated lending such as most buy-to-let.
• Legal advice. If you think you have been scammed, report it to the FCA and Action Fraud.

Method and limits

We fetched the FCA’s pages on the Financial Services Register and the Warning List, the FCA Handbook definition of advising on regulated mortgage contracts, and the FSCS mortgage compensation page, all on 11 September 2026. The Warning List figure (over 18,600 entries) and the FSCS limits are as published on that date. The register itself is a live database, so always rely on what it shows on the day you check, not on this page. Whito has no connection to the FCA and no role in authorisation.

Sources

• FCA: the Financial Services Register. What the register is, appointed representatives, and the FOS/FSCS caveat for ARs acting outside scope.
• FCA: Warning List of unauthorised firms. Clone firms, the 18,600-plus entries figure, and the advice to reply using contact details from the register.
• FSCS: mortgage advice compensation. The £85,000 per person per firm limit for firms failing after 1 April 2019, and the 31 October 2004 advice date condition.
• FCA Handbook: advising on regulated mortgage contracts. The defined regulated activity a mortgage adviser’s permissions should include.

Before you go

Check how visible your business is. The free Whito Visibility Check runs seventeen automated checks on what search engines and AI assistants can see on your homepage. Seventeen checks, about twenty seconds, no email, no sales call. Run the free Visibility Check.

List your business free. The Whito directory is free to join and free to stay in. Nobody can pay to appear, and nobody can pay to move up. Add your listing.

More guides for mortgage advisers: Whito’s mortgage advisers hub.

Related research: We asked 3 AI engines to name the best mortgage adviser in 6 UK cities (August 2026).

Looking for a mortgage adviser instead of being one? Search the free directory: /find/mortgage-advisors/.

Whito

Whito is an independent UK research bureau. We ask the AI engines what they recommend, then check the businesses they name against Companies House and the sector registers. Figures we publish carry the date they were checked. Companies cannot pay to appear or to rank.

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