The selling of payment protection insurance has come under the spotlight recently and is receiving attention from both the regulators and the press. This type of insurance is designed to payout should a person become unable to work through sickness or is made redundant. The payouts are used to cover debt repayments until the customer is able to re-establish their earnings.

However due to a number of compliants, made mainly through the citizens advice bureaus, the FSA has been looking more closely at the whole area. The main things the FSA have been investigating are the way these types of product are sold, whether they are needed by the customers who sign up for them and whether they offer the protection they claim to.

The FSA has already fined a number of firms (some with quite heavy fines) and has said they are still looking closely at a number of others. What has also happened now, because the opportunity to reclaim unfair bank charges has been put on hold pending a formal review, the firms that used to help people claim back unfair bank charges in return for a healthy cut are now turning their attention to people who have taken payment protection insurance and could now claim back their premiums.

The British Bankers Association has recently published a guide to payment protection insurance - read it here ...