What are the steps from first email to finished work?
The process has five steps: your email, an introductory consultation, an engagement letter, the work itself, and a handover of everything we've prepared. The only point where you commit is the third, when you agree to the letter. Before then you're under no obligation and owe us nothing.
You email us
A few lines on what you'd like help with, any offer you want checked and any deadline. The contact page has a short list of what's useful to mention.
Introductory consultation
We talk through your situation, the decision in front of you and what you've already looked into. If we aren't the right firm, or the work wouldn't be worth the fee, we'll tell you.
Engagement letter
A short letter with the scope, what you'll receive, the dates and a fixed fee. Work begins only once you've agreed to it.
The work
We work from the figures and documents you choose to share, and talk through what we find with you as we go rather than saving it all for the end.
Handover
You receive everything we've prepared, with a walkthrough, so you can keep using it on your own.
How does Ownvance charge?
Ownvance charges a fixed fee for each piece of work, set out in the engagement letter before anything starts. Its size depends on the scope, and it's all we're paid for the work: no commissions, no referral fees and no share of anything you save or invest. Your choices don't change what we earn.
If you'd like to add something partway through, such as a second offer to check, we agree the change and any extra fee in writing first. You'll always know the full fee before you commit to it.
What goes into the engagement letter?
The engagement letter is a short document you agree to before any work begins. It sets out what we'll do and what's left out, what you'll receive, the dates, the fixed fee, and how we keep your information confidential and delete it afterwards. Anything that isn't in the letter hasn't been agreed.
- The scope: the question we're answering for you, and what falls outside it.
- What you'll receive, and in what form.
- The dates, including anything we need from you and by when.
- The fixed fee, and how any change to the scope would be agreed.
- Confidentiality, and what happens to your information when the work ends.
Does anyone else pay Ownvance?
No. Ownvance takes no commissions, referral fees, kickbacks or sponsorship from banks, platforms, fund managers, brokers, lenders or any firm we might check. When we explain your options or test an offer, nobody on the other side is paying us, so nothing nudges us towards one answer rather than another.
This website follows the same rule. Nobody pays us to write anything here, and you won't find sponsored articles or affiliate links.
What information will we ask you to share?
We ask only for what the work needs: perhaps your income and regular bills for a plan, or the messages and documents behind an offer you want checked. You choose what to share and how. We never need bank logins, passwords, one-time codes or access to any of your accounts, and we'll never ask for them.
You can summarise figures instead of sending statements, and blank out account numbers or anything else you'd rather keep private. Whatever you share stays confidential, is used only for your piece of work, and is returned or deleted at the end unless the law requires us to keep it. The engagement letter confirms this.
What happens after the handover?
After the handover, everything is yours. You keep the plan, the spreadsheet, the session notes or the written record, and can update them without us. If you'd like us to look again later, perhaps after a new job or before a big decision, that's a fresh piece of work under a new letter and fixed fee.
Most of what we prepare is meant to need us less over time: a spreadsheet you update each month, a plan you review once a year, a checklist you can use on the next offer that lands in your inbox.
How can you check that a message really comes from Ownvance?
Real emails from Ownvance are sent from an address at this website's own domain. They never ask you to send money to invest, share a password or one-time code, or let anyone control your phone or computer. If something using our name asks for any of these, don't respond: write to us using the address on our website.
For the full checklist, and what to do if someone is using our name, see is Ownvance legit?.