If you've ever taken out a loan, mortgage, credit card or store card, or bought something on credit, then the chances are you were sold payment protection insurance (PPI) at the same time.
Now, the consumer association Which? believes that thousands, even millions of you, may have been mis-sold PPI.
The scale of the mis-selling of loan payment protection insurance is greater than previously thought, with up to 2 million policies sold to people who may never be able to make a claim, according to Which?
Which? say that up to 30% of you taking out insurance on a loan in the last 5 years may fall foul of exclusions that would prevent you claiming.
PPI is designed to cover your
debt repayments if you can't work through illness or accident, or if you are made redundant.
Unfortunately it is often mis-sold, costing many of us thousands of pounds for expensive insurance we may never actually be able to claim on!
Which? has been speaking out about the mis-selling of PPI for many years, but now the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) are getting involved.
The FSA has already designated the insurance a priority because of the potential risks to consumers, and has fined or censured a string of companies over poor selling practices.
The findings by Which? are revealed just days before what is expected to be a highly critical report from the Competition Commission on, which has been investigating the £5 billion a year industry and is likely to announce plans for a crackdown on the way the policies are sold. It could even call for them to be sold separately.
Which? surveyed people who had taken out a loan or mortgage during the past five years and found that 32% of those who signed up for the insurance may fall foul of one or more of the "significant exclusions" in the small print. That could amount to between 1.7 million and 2.1 million policies.
The research also found that the average loan is £6,050; 1 in 10 of us has borrowed £10,000 or more.
A Which? spokesman commented on their survey:
"People who are self-employed or on a fixed-term job contract, for example, often aren't covered by PPI. Nor are many people aged 65 and over, or people who might claim for absences relating to pre-existing medical conditions."
Doug Taylor, Which? personal finance campaigner, said:
"We've always known that people were being mis-sold [payment protection insurance], but we were still amazed to discover the scale of it. It appears that salespeople are chasing their commissions, while their bosses are chasing profits. Where's the sense of responsibility to the customer?".
He said if someone with a
loan or
mortgage thought they might have been mis-sold the insurance: "
nows the time to fight back".
Many people may not be aware that policies only pay out for a limited amount of time, often 12 months, and that credit card and store card insurance frequently covers only the minimum monthly payment.
So, if you think you have been mis sold PPI, then you need to claim it back.
Claim back your Payment Protection Insurance
Claim back your bank penalty charges
Claim back your credit card fees
Claim back your mortgage exit fees