The great PPI misselling scandal stretches right back to the mid 1990’s, when banks and finance companies started to sell this policy type alongside credit cards, mortgages and kinds of loans. Many thousands of UK residents subsequently fell prey to these scandalous selling practices. Some policyholders felt happy to have obtained cover against unexpected illness, injury and unemployment, only to later discover that any claims they might make would be rejected.

It wasn’t as if people’s first reaction to hearing about payment protection insurance was to immediately open their wallets. Some were only persuaded to do so after being informed that their loan applications would be turned down if they didn’t take out PPI. Feeling that they were backed into a tight corner, these unfortunate individuals felt that the only option was to accept what they were told. It is easy to imagine the policyholders anger when they later discovered that payment protection insurance was optional, rather than mandatory.

Many victims of PPI misselling were subject to a great deal of stress and financial woe. There were a number of occasions on which the lenders provided PPI on the basis that it was affordable, only to later hit their customers with unexpectedly large bills. They failed to outline the annual charges and interest that was to be tacked on as part of the PPI package. Individuals who weren’t particularly flush had a hard time when it came to balancing repayments between their loans and unwanted policies.

The lending institutions needn’t have caused such a mess. All that they had to do was give their customers a true reflection of the benefits and pitfalls of payment protection insurance. Rather than taking such fair action, they refused to mention the gaping policy exclusions, which would eventually come to light. Some lenders even tried to emphasise the scale of PPI protection by calling it accident, sickness and unemployment cover.

Numerous reports have emerged since the mid 1990s of the underhand tactics employed by the shameless lenders. It is now known that many people already had cover against illness, injury and redundancy at the time that they were burdened with PPI. Some were even wrongfully informed of their eligibility for a PPI claim. If you were unlucky enough to be the victim of such underhand techniques then now is the time to recoup your losses. The process of reclaiming your money could begin today, should you choose to contact a reputable PPI claims company.