Editorial Policy

Our Editorial Standards

PocketWise is a free UK personal finance resource covering tax, pensions, benefits, mortgages, savings, insurance, and more. We publish guides and calculators to help people understand their money — not to sell financial products.

Every piece of content on PocketWise is held to the standards below.

How We Research and Write Content

All PocketWise guides are researched using primary UK government and regulatory sources, including:

• HMRC — for tax rates, thresholds, allowances, and self-assessment rules
• GOV.UK — for benefits entitlements, pension rules, and employment law
• DWP — for Universal Credit, PIP, and other welfare benefits
• FCA — for financial regulation, consumer protection, and product rules
• The Pensions Regulator — for workplace pension and auto-enrolment rules
• ONS — for salary data, income statistics, and economic indicators
• Bank of England — for base rate decisions and monetary policy

We do not rely on other personal finance websites as primary sources for factual claims. Where we reference third-party data (e.g., average mortgage rates from Moneyfacts, or energy price cap figures from Ofgem), we cite the source directly.

All tax and benefits content references the current tax year (2026/27) unless explicitly stated otherwise. Rates and thresholds are verified against official publications before every article is published or updated.

Fact-Checking Process

Before publication, every article goes through the following checks:

1. Source verification — all figures, rates, and thresholds are cross-referenced against official government sources
2. Currency check — content reflects the current tax year and latest policy changes
3. Worked examples — calculations and examples are verified for mathematical accuracy
4. Link check — all external links point to live, relevant pages on official sites
5. Regulatory compliance — YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) content includes appropriate disclaimers and signposts to professional advice

Where content has been reviewed by an external qualified professional (such as a chartered accountant or regulated financial adviser), this is clearly stated on the article with their name and credentials.

How We Keep Content Up to Date

Financial information changes frequently. We maintain content accuracy through:

• Tax year updates — every April, all tax, pension, and benefits content is reviewed and updated for the new tax year’s rates and thresholds
• Budget and Autumn Statement responses — within 48 hours of fiscal announcements, affected content is updated to reflect confirmed changes
• Bank of England rate decisions — mortgage, savings, and lending content is reviewed after each MPC decision
• Benefits uprating — DWP benefit rates are updated annually following the Secretary of State’s confirmation
• Rolling content reviews — all guides are reviewed at least once per year, with high-traffic and rate-sensitive content reviewed quarterly

Every article displays its publication date and last-reviewed date so you can see how current the information is.

Corrections Policy

We take accuracy seriously. When we identify an error in published content:

1. The error is corrected immediately
2. A visible correction notice is added to the top of the affected article, explaining what was changed and when
3. Significant corrections are logged on our corrections page

If you spot an error on any PocketWise page, please contact us and we will investigate and correct it promptly.

Independence and Conflicts of Interest

PocketWise is an independent resource. Our editorial content is not influenced by any financial product provider, bank, insurer, or lender.

• We do not accept payment for favourable coverage of any product or service
• We do not provide personalised financial advice or product recommendations
• Where we discuss specific products (e.g., ISA providers, mortgage types), this is for educational context only — not endorsement

PocketWise may earn revenue through advertising displayed on the site. Advertising is clearly separated from editorial content and has no influence on what we write or recommend.

What PocketWise Is Not

PocketWise is not an FCA-regulated firm. We do not hold any FCA permissions and do not provide regulated financial advice.

The information on this site is for educational and informational purposes only. It should not be treated as a substitute for professional financial advice tailored to your personal circumstances.

For important financial decisions — particularly around pensions, mortgages, investments, and debt — we strongly recommend consulting a qualified, FCA-regulated financial adviser. You can find a regulated adviser through:

• Unbiased — independent adviser search
• MoneyHelper — free government guidance service
• The Pensions Advisory Service — free pension guidance

How We Classify Content

PocketWise covers personal finance topics that Google and other search engines classify as YMYL — “Your Money or Your Life”. This means the information we publish can directly affect readers’ financial wellbeing, legal rights, or access to important services.

We take this classification seriously. YMYL content is held to a higher standard than general interest publishing: errors in a recipe blog are embarrassing; errors in a benefits eligibility guide, a tax threshold reference, or a mortgage affordability article can cause real financial harm.

Our response to this is structural, not just aspirational:

• We verify all figures against primary government sources before publication
• We update rate-sensitive content at every tax year boundary (6 April) and after every relevant announcement
• We add explicit disclaimers to content where professional advice should be sought before acting
• We date every article with both a publication date and a last-reviewed date, so readers can see how current the information is

What “Last Reviewed” Means

Every article on PocketWise displays a Last Reviewed date. This date means a qualified reviewer has:

1. Re-read the full article
2. Verified all rates, thresholds, and figures against current official sources
3. Checked for regulatory or legislative changes since the last review
4. Updated any outdated content and corrected any errors found

An article showing today’s date as Last Reviewed has been actively checked today — not simply re-published or automatically timestamped. We do not update Last Reviewed dates programmatically.

High-traffic and rate-sensitive articles (particularly income tax, National Insurance, and benefits rates) are reviewed at least twice per year: at the start of the new tax year in April, and following the Autumn Statement or Spring Budget.

Our Sources

PocketWise uses primary UK government and regulatory sources for all factual claims. We do not use other personal finance websites, comparison sites, or commercial financial publishers as sources for rates, thresholds, or rules.

Primary sources used:

Where third-party data is used (for example, average mortgage rates from Moneyfacts, energy price cap from Ofgem), the source is cited directly in the article.

How We Handle Conflicts of Interest

PocketWise earns revenue through display advertising. Advertising is served programmatically and has no influence on editorial content.

Specific commitments:

• No paid coverage. We do not accept payment to write about, mention, or favourably describe any product, service, or company.
• No affiliate product recommendations. Where we discuss financial products (ISA providers, mortgage types, insurance categories), this is educational context only — not commercial endorsement.
• No advertiser influence on editorial decisions. Article topics, conclusions, and recommendations are determined solely by what is accurate and useful to readers.
• Advertising is visually separated from article content at all times.

If this policy changes, or if any specific content relationship exists that readers should know about, it will be disclosed clearly in that article.

Approach to Disclaimers

Financial topics require clear disclaimers. PocketWise adds section-specific disclaimers automatically to all articles in the following categories:

These disclaimers are not legal boilerplate added to protect us — they reflect genuine limits on what editorial content can do compared to regulated financial advice.

Complaints and Feedback

If you believe any content on PocketWise contains a factual error, is out of date, or is misleading, please contact us. We investigate all complaints about editorial accuracy and respond within five working days.

Where a complaint identifies a genuine error, we will:

1. Correct the content immediately
2. Add a correction notice to the article
3. Log the correction on our corrections page
4. Acknowledge your contribution if you give us permission to do so

PocketWise is not regulated by any press regulator (IPSO, IMPRESS, or otherwise), as we are a specialist financial information service rather than a news publisher. However, we apply standards equivalent to responsible editorial practice in all content decisions.

Contact Us

Questions about our editorial process, or spotted something that needs correcting? Get in touch.