Payment protection insurance is often sold alongside loans and credit cards. It is meant to cover monthly debt repayments if the policyholder loses their job or suffers an accident or long-term illness. Usually, coverage kicks in after a policyholder has been unable to work for three months and pays out for a maximum of 1 year. Payment Protection Insurance sounds great in theory, but statistical histories shows that 85% of people who tried to put in claims under their PPI coverage were unsuccessful.

However, whilst the cover sounds good in theory there have been many people that have paid a lot for this protection without realizing that they cannot ever claim on it, and many others that have been talked into taking out the cover even thought they didn’t want it. This is something that campaigners and various groups have been trying to put an end to, and even the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the UK’s financial regulator, has become heavily involved in the crackdown on PPI, having levied heavy fines on a number of lenders that have been found to be mis-selling this cover.

There are strong grounds for making a mis-selling claim if you were told the loan would be refused unless you took out the insurance. You are 100% eligible to make a claim if your answer for the following questions is a strong “YES”.

• You were told that PPI was compulsory.

• You were not in full time employment when you took out the policy

• Payment Protection Insurance was sold to you without your knowledge.

• You weren’t given full details of the insurance policy.

• You were not told that you could get PPI elsewhere.

• The full cost of the policy was not explained to you.

Before making a claim please find a brief run-down on the primary situations on how individuals were being mis sold payment protection insurance; you had been told that in order to get a loan it was required you purchased PPI, you were not told the exclusions of the coverage, you were sold PPI while you were self-employed, you were not employed at your current job for more than 12 months, you were not questioned of any prior health conditions and you were not told the price of the premium. Invest some time into learning if and how you can claim a refund, it will be worth it.

To make a claim, first go to the lender or broker who sold the policy. You may have to wait up to eight weeks for a reply. If the provider then rejects your complaint, you should contact the free and independent Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). Good news for the victims is that the FSA offers a guide for those looking for PPI, and enables consumers to find the most suitable cover from a list of providers based on their needs.