Payment protection insurance was created in order to cover your repayments to a loan or other form of credit for a set period of time in the instance of an illness, accident or loss of job which leads to being unable to repay credit agreements.

Although the concept of payment protection insurance was valid and has helped many people in the past when they have reached issues with their employment or finances there were thousands of people that were mis-sold payment protection insurance. Generally through being sold the policy and not being aware of it or actually eligible for the protection it offered.

Now, changes to the financial industry have been made in order to prevent any more payment protection insurance policies being mis-sold. These include preventing a financial institution from selling payment protection insurance policy at the same time as accepting a loan or other credit agreement.

If you were sold payment protection insurance and you didn’t meet the following criteria then you may be eligible to make a PPI claim!

-          You must have been in full time employment on a permanent basis and not be aware of any potential loss of employment in the immediate future

-          You must have been aware that pre-existing illnesses or health issues may not be covered by the insurance policy. In addition you must have also been made aware that the PPI policy would not cover certain illnesses relating to mental issues, muscular problems and back pain.

-          You must have been made aware of the policy; this includes a general awareness especially if signing up online, an awareness of the terms and conditions of the policy and the costs involved.

-          You must not have been forced into taking a policy by being told it was necessary to take out a policy in order to get accepted for the loan or finance agreement.

-          You must have been told that you could shop around for a payment protection insurance policy and that it was not essential to take out the PPI as it was completely optional.

If you believe any of the above criteria was relevant to your finance and PPI agreement you may be entitled to making a claim. Generally, the above criteria may have resulted in you being unable to use the payment protection insurance when required which would of course mean you were sold something completely relevant and wasting your money! Not to mention the fact having payment protection insurance may have lulled you into a false sense of security if you were about to lose your job.

Payment protection insurance

These policies do have time limits and you must consider these and ensure you do not run out of time. You can only claim on a payment protection insurance policy if the account was active within the last six years or, alternatively you must make the claim within three years of being made aware that you were mis-sold the payment protection insurance policy.

A payment protection insurance claim is relatively straight forward and working with a PPI claims company can mean you take a completely hands off approach to the whole process without paying a single penny if you do not win your claim.

There are many common questions regarding making a payment protection insurance claim and we can address these here covering issues such as time limits, the amount of the payment protection insurance pay out you may be entitled to and whether or not you need information and documents you have regarding your insurance policy and credit agreements.

Payment protection insurance policies were typically around 15% of the total cost of the loan so a £10,000 loan could easily mean you will have paid £1500 in insurance which could potentially be claimed back. In addition to the repayment you will also be compensated for the problems the mis-selling scandal had caused which is typically the amount of interest you were paying. If, as a direct result of the mis-sold PPI you suffered losses or charges you will also be compensated for these.

If your loan has already been paid off you will get the money owed directly to you however, if you still have the loan or credit agreement in place you can pay off the existing debt with that lender.

One of the most common issues people have when wondering whether they can make a claim is no longer having the information relating to the payment protection insurance or any past credit agreements. This is easily addressed by simply contacting the banks or financial institutions, or alternatively taking up the services of a claims management company who can do this for you without much effort from yourself! In such situations it is important to act fast as the older your loan agreement is the less likely there is to be information still held on your agreement and policy and therefore no proof available in order to proceed.

Many people find that they weren’t even aware they had payment protection insurance on a loan or credit card as they fell under the “not made aware” category. This generally does of course mean that if you do go through your credit agreements and find some sort of PPI attached to your account you will be then eligible to make a claim. The most common way you got PPI without being made aware is through the use of online forms which already had the PPI option selected so if you have a loan from before 2007 and you made this online there is a high chance you have been paying for payment protection insurance you may not even be eligible for.

It is important to note that even if you were not made aware of your PPI policy but you still meet all of the important health and employment criteria that you could actually keep your PPI policy if you feel it is required. Once you make a claim on an active loan or finance your payment protection insurance cover will be cancelled.