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How we use cookies on our website

When you use our website, we add cookies to your device to:

• make sure the website works well for you 

• find out how you're using our website so we can improve it

By using our website, we assume you agree to us adding cookies to your device. If you want to disable, block or remove cookies, you can do this at any time.

If you disable all cookies you:

• won't be able to have your preferences remembered

• might not be able to fill in our advice forms on our website

• might not be able see content from other companies like Youtube videos 

To block cookies, you should change the settings in your web browser. You can also delete cookies that have already been set. Click on 'Help' in your web browser and search for 'cookies'.

Cookies from Google Analytics tell us how you're using our site. You can opt out if you don't want these cookies added to your device.

Opt out from Google Analytics cookies.

You can find out more about cookies and how to delete them on the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) website.

Making our website work well

We add cookies to your device so you have a good experience when you use our website - for example:

• remembering your preferences

• stopping the cookie notice showing all the time

• making our online forms work

The following cookies are installed whenever you access our advice form: -

• SID and HSID: Contain encrypted records of a user's Google Account ID and most recent sign-in time 

• pm_sess: Ensures that requests within a browsing session are made by the user

• YSC: Ensures that requests within a browsing session are made by the user

• __Secure-YEC and AEC: Detect spam, fraud, and abuse 

• _gads: Enables sites to show Google ads 

• gac: Used by advertisers to measure user activity and the performance of their ad campaigns 

• _gid: Distinguishes users for 24 hours 

• _ga: Distinguishes users on a domain and lasts 2 years 

• _gat: Limits the number of user requests and lasts 1 minute 

• _utmv: User-defined variable cookies that can last 2 years

The following cookies are installed as part of Google Analytics: -

• _ga: The main cookie used to distinguish users, this cookie lasts for two years 

• _ga<container-id>: Tracks session state, such as page flow and session duration, and lasts for two years

• _gid: Used to distinguish users within a session, this cookie lasts for 24 hours

• _gat: Used to throttle request rates, this cookie lasts for one minute

• _utma: Stores the number of visits, the time of the first visit, and the previous and current visits 

• _utmb: Stores information on how long a user stays on a website 

• _gcl: Tracks conversions, particularly across domains 

• _gac: Stores ad click information and tracks ad campaign performance

The following cookies are installed if you access one of our YouTube videos: -

• VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE: Used to detect and fix problems with the service, and expires after 179 days 

• YSC: Expires after the current session 

• PREF: Stores your playback and page configuration preferences, and expires after 8 months

• pm_sess: Maintains your browser session, and expires after 30 minutes

• AEC, APISID, HSID, NID, SAPISID, SID, SSID, SOCS, _Secure: Expires between 180 and 400 days