Payment protection insurance is an insurance policy designed to help the customer keep up payments on a mortgage or other loan in the event that they find they are no longer able to work.
The customer pays a regular amount into a policy and this is used to create a fund from which any necessary payments may be drawn.
If you have taken out a mortgage, credit card or entered into any sort of credit agreement in the recent years you should investigate whether you have a Pi policy attached.
A few years ago the powers that be looking into a number of complaints from customers that they had been mis sold PPI.
The findings were quite alarming as they uncovered regular instances of PPI policies being sold to customers in ways that were not acceptable.
Indeed, some people were completely unaware that they were paying into such a policy and there may remain many people who still are.
It has always been the case that the consumer had the right to shop around for the best payment protection policy available, yet in many cases it had been inferred to the customer that they would need to take out a branded package from the lender in order to secure the loan or mortgage they required.
This practice is, and always has been, illegal and new regulations have been drawn up that make sure consumers are no longer subjected to such.
It is now against the regulations to sell a PPI policy at the point of sale of a credit agreement and also to sell one within a set period of granting the loan.
This gives the customer time to look for a good deal without pressure.
If you believe you have been mis sold PPI you need to contact one of the many firms of solicitors offering their help in pursuing such cases, and you may find that you are one of many with a right to claim back unlawful charges.