ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED
In Scottish law, if a cohabiting couple break up, one partner may be able to bring a claim against the other if they can show they lost out financially as a result of the relationship. The terms are quite narrow but, for example, one partner might have given up work to bring up their child or children and been economically disadvantaged.

EHIC (EUROPEAN HEALTH INSURANCE CARD)
A card that entitles you to free or reduced cost emergency treatment in the countries that make up the European Union, plus Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. You can order it online free of charge.

ELECTORAL ROLL/ REGISTER
A list of everyone in the UK who is registered to vote. You're not automatically registered, instead you have to fill in a form from your local council or go online. There are two versions of the electoral roll; the full version, which lenders check to verify who you are and the edited version, which is sold to commercial companies for marketing purposes and which you can opt out of.

EMERGENCY FUND
Money you set aside in a savings account (normally in an easy access account). In an ideal world, you should have enough in your emergency savings account to live on for three to six months, but anything is better than nothing.

EMPLOYEE BENEFITS
Benefits offered free or subsidised by an employer, such as life insurance while you still work for the employer (called a death-in-service benefit), income protection insurance, medical cover, discounts etc.

EMPLOYMENT AND SUPPORT ALLOWANCE
A state benefit you can claim if you can't work due to illness. It replaced incapacity benefit for anyone who started claiming after October 2008.

ENDOWMENT MORTGAGE
An interest-only mortgage (where the original amount you borrowed isn't paid back by your monthly payments) sold alongside an endowment policy, which is a combination of a life insurance and investment plan. Endowment mortgages have high upfront charges, do not guarantee to pay off the original amount you borrowed and are inflexible. They turned out to be an appalling product for many homeowners.

ENERGY PERFORMANCE CERTIFICATE (EPC)
This certificate shows how energy efficient a property is on a scale of A-G, where 'A' is the most energy efficient and 'G' is the least. It forms part of the home information pack in England and Wales and the home report in Scotland.

EQUITIES
If you invest in shares, you may also hear them described as equities and/or stocks.

EQUITY
If you own your own home, the word 'equity' normally refers to the difference between the value of your mortgage (and any other loans secured on your home) and the value of the property.

EQUITY RELEASE
A generic term for a range of products that let you release some of the value (or equity) in your home. It can mean remortgaging to increase your borrowing, but more commonly it refers to schemes that are offered to older homeowners (normally 55-60+) so they can receive a lump sum or income without selling up and downsizing. The money is repaid when the homeowner dies or - sometimes - when they move.

ESTATE
The money and property that you leave when you die, minus anything that you owe.

ETHICAL INVESTMENT
Investment funds that refuse to invest in certain companies (such as those that have a significant impact on the environment, manufacture weapons or are involved in the tobacco industry). In reality, it's much broader than that. Many ethical funds also positively select companies that they believe are trying to operate in a sustainable way and an increasing number will try to influence companies they invest in.

EURIBOR
The interest rate that banks in the euro zone lend to each other at. The rates vary according to the length of the loan (with one, three and six-month Euribor rates being commonly quoted).

EXCESS
The first part of an insurance claim that you have to pay. It's normally a fixed amount (rather than a percentage of the claim) and you can choose to pay a higher excess if you want to reduce your premiums. Beware that some travel insurance policies may charge several different excesses - depending on the type of claim - with no upper limit.

EXCHANGE-TRADED FUNDS
Low-cost investment funds that track or mirror a particular index. They're not as well known as other tracker funds (such as OEICS and unit trusts) and are traded in the same way as shares on the stock market.

EXCLUSION
An event or condition that is not covered by an insurance policy. There may be standard exclusions that apply to all policies of a particular type sold by an insurer and/or exclusions that apply solely to policies you take out.

EXECUTION ONLY
Selling or buying shares, investments or insurance through a broker without receiving advice.

EXECUTION-ONLY BROKER
A brokers who sells or buys investments or insurance without giving advice. If they give you a discount on some or all of the charges on an investment plan, they're known as 'discount brokers'.

EXECUTOR
Someone who deals with a person's affairs after their death. Most people would appoint more than one executor and will state who they are in their will. Being an executor can involve a lot of form-filling etc., so make sure you ask the person if they're happy to take on this role.