If any of these apply to you, you may be able to claim compensation from your bank

Once you know how widely the banks have mis-sold PPI (Payment Protection Insurance), you’d be right to wonder whether you might have a claim. As with all insurance policies, PPI can be complex and the reasons you may have been lumbered with an inappropriate policy are numerous. In fact, PPI is a niche product which is only suitable for a limited number of people – so many of those who are paying for a policy have no need to be.

Exemptions from PPI policies abound, and so you may be able to claim compensation if you were sold a PPI policy when:

1.       You were aged below 18 or over 65

2.       You were working less than 16 hours per week

3.       You were a temporary worker or a contractor

4.       You were self-employed

5.       You were aware that you were in danger of losing your job

6.       You had an existing illness

7.       You were not told that conditions such as stress and backache would not be covered should they become debilitating

8.       The cost of the insurance was not explained to you – or you were not told you would be paying for it at all

9.       You were not asked if you had any other insurance policies which may have covered the same eventualities

10.   You were told that it was compulsory for you to take out PPI, or that the chances of your loan being approved would increase if you did

11.   You were not told that you had the right to “shop around” for a PPI policy from another provider

12.   Your loan was taken out online and the option to take out PPI was already selected

If any of these are the case, your policy was probably mis-sold to you as you were misled over the details or you would never have been able to make a claim.

If you suspect you have been a victim of mis-selling, take a look at our How to Reclaim PPI page.