Recently, everyone has been talking about PPI. Namely, we are talking about payment protection insurance. A few years ago, it was all we would hear about in the news and there were a lot of negative stories. Now, people are wondering whether it is still available or if they can make a claim. In our guide, we are going to talk about everything to do with PPI. So, let’s get started.
What is PPI?
First of all, it is important to understand exactly what PPI is. This is an abbreviation for payment protection insurance and it is a type of income protection. The idea is that if you have repayments to make, such as on a mortgage and you ran into financial difficulty due to illness or being out of work, PPI would help you. It would be able to protect some of your income and allow you to make repayments. For example. PPI was often sold with:
- Credit cards
- Personal loans
- Bank loans
- Store cards
- Mortgage
- Overdraft
- Car finance
If you have heard of PPI before, you probably know that it has negative connotations associated with it. Indeed, over the years, there have been a lot of scandals surrounding PPI and it was mis-sold to people by financial institutions. Individuals were told they needed to have it or it was even part of their payments without them knowing what they were getting. Unfortunately, all of the bad stories about PPI meant that the benefits it could offer were overshadowed.
Can You Make a Claim for Mis-Sold PPI?
Millions of PPI policies were mis-sold by companies in the UK. In other words, people were paying for PPI despite not needing it with their loan, mortgage or even credit card. Alternatively, the company was dishonest and added it to payments without customers knowing about it. In order to deal with this problem, people were allowed to make a claim for the mis-sold PPI. This would include a refund for money they had paid. The deadline for this was in August 2019.
However, there are still some situations where you can make a claim for PPI. This is in ‘exceptional circumstances’ where you were unable to make a claim before the deadline. The best way to know if you are going to be able to get a refund is to contact a PPI claim company. Click here to see the top 20 PPI claim companies you can ask for help. Using their expertise and experience, they are going to inform you whether you can claim for mis-sold PPI even though the deadline has passed. You may have to provide some evidence for this and they can deal with your claim on your behalf. They have the skills necessary to make a successful claim and this means that you can receive a refund for PPI you had.
Can You Still Buy PPI?
There is no doubt that there are benefits to purchasing payment protection insurance. For example, it can provide you with some security when you have large repayments. The policy will pay out if you become sick, injured or even on death. For a lot of people, PPI can offer peace of mind and know that they or their family will not struggle to pay for mortgages, any loans or credit cards someone has.
However, a lot of people cannot shake off the negativity surrounding PPI. The stories in the headlines will have a lasting effect and a lot of companies know this. So, you will find that a lot of payment protection insurance will now have a new name. This is to disassociate from this negativity. But, it will operate in a similar way. This is going to allow you to enjoy income protection moving forward but as a policy you agree to.
One of the most important things to remember is that you always listen carefully to the financial products that you purchase. You want to know all of the terms of the policy and make sure you are aware of what you are paying for. Do not be afraid to ask questions so that you know exactly what you are getting. If you are confused about a payment, a company is going to be happy to help you.
Therefore, you can still buy PPI today. But, you are likely to see it called something else by the provider. Just ensure that you know what you are signing up to and it is really the income protection you want.
