"Now as far our finances go, we've definitely got that old pension plan somewhere, and I think there is an ISA and a PEP or two. Where they all are and how they are doing... well who knows?!"

Sound familiar? We've all done it. We've received a piece of supposedly important piece of financial literature in through the post and we've filed it at the bottom of that drawer we all have never to see the light of day again.

Make your 2008 New Year's resolution be to get back on top of your finances with a Financial Health Check from Heritage. Follow our simple steps and your will be financially fit and healthy again in no time. Best of all, you don't have to go down the gym or cut out the chocolate!

Step 1 (The hardest part)

Pull out all your financial documents from under the stairs, in the garage, the kitchen drawer or wherever. If you know you have a policy but can't find the documentation don't worry we'll come back to those ones later.

Step 2

Scan through all your documents and find out these three things: (1) What type of policy is it? Is it an ISA, an endowment, a pension. Be a specific as you can. . (2) What company issued the policy? Any policy documentation should have the name of the company that issued it somewhere pretty obvious. Sometimes though you may find the name of the company and go to the phone book only to find the company is no longer there. Don't panic! Another company will have taken them over and your money will be being looked after by them. It is usually pretty simple to find out who has taken over you policy provider - try typing the name of the company into any internet search engine. Your original policy number will still be in force. If you can, find out the address of the company's Head Office and their telephone number too. (3) What is the policy number? This information is usually on the first sheet next to where they tell you what type of policy you have.

It may look daunting to start off with but persevere and you will you soon have all the information you need.

Step 3

Download the 'Letters of Authority' form, fill in the relevant sections and post them to each of your respective policy providers. The letters of Authority allow us to request the necessary policy details for us to advise you. It will also mean that we will become the servicing agents for the policy and any future commissions can therefore offset the costs of gathering the necessary information and putting together your financial healthcheck report.

Step 4

When your policy provider receives the letter of authority they will inform us of our authority on your policy. Please download the Heritage Healthcheck form, fill it in and e-mail it back to us so when we receive the acknowledgements of your letter(s) of Authority we can get straight on with producing your report. There is space on the form to tell us of any investments that you cannot find all the details for.

Step 5

Sit back, relax and wait for your Helathcheck report to arrive. In it you will get a synopsis of your current investments, what we understand to be your investment objectives and our recommendations about how best to meet those objectives. With your approval, we can then carry out our recommendations and get your money working hard in the way you want it to.

Get your finances sorted with a Heritage Financial Healthcheck.