The downside of the economy is there for everyone to see, and unemployment is staring at our faces. How can anyone focus on improvement and development in the wake of continuing bad news from the economic front? In this gloom, you have a small spark that can bring a smile to your faces.

All of us have heard about the disaster of the PPI or Payment Protection Insurance issued by banks and other financial institutions and leasing companies as a kind of insurance to cover the risk of the debt on credit cards, bank loans and finance agreements, if the borrower were to fall sick, become disabled or slip into unemployment. Another interesting aspect of this policy was that the benefits of the policy accrued only to the company or institution.

Banks and financial institutions issued PPI Policies; several car rental and mortgage companies issued them as well. After a particular period, it became clear that these institutions mis-sold these PPI policies and no protection, as envisaged, was practically available to the last policyholders.

While the unsteady condition of the economy was in a crisis, who would not like to reclaim the money that is due to them? Many of those who held these redundant policies could not find a way to get around this problem and eke out the payments from these financial institutions, who even legally defied the dictates of the Financial Service Authority or the FSA, to keep all claims pending. However, some inspired good Samaritans braved the bad economy, took the matter to court, and fought the case to retrieve the money stolen from them.

In the wake of this disturbing scenario, the High Court passed a consequential ruling, advising FFA to instruct the banks and financial institutions who issued the PPI policies in the first place to revisit all PPI policyholders and tell them about the new opportunity to claim their policy premium through the pertinent channels.

Accordingly, the FSA authorized the financial institutions to re-visit all the erstwhile affected clients and reopen their files to check their eligibility for reimbursement. The FSA asked the institutions to write individually to all the claimants, intimating them to start steps to reclaim their premiums. Those whose claims the bank had rejected earlier were free to approach the Financial Ombudsman Service for redress.

To increase your success of a claim you would do well to attach all the paperwork you have, including any change of name, and add a reference to every loan from that lender. Most banks and financial institutions will keep records for 6 years, and so, even if you have lost your records and references, you could still extricate it from the institutions.