Shop around for Payment Protection Insurance, PPI

Despite all the recent issues over the mis-selling of single premium payment protection insurance, with the rising levels of unemployment, this is insurance worth shopping around for.

As Defaqto points out, with the unemployment rise of 165,000 over the last 3 months and the expectation that a further million could become unemployed in the next 18 months, many people are concerned about what happens to their mortgage and other loan payments if they lose their job.

The government has recently changed the Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) rules but many people will still not meet the criteria to benefit from this if they lose their job.

Head of Insight at Defaqto, Brian Brown, said ‘People who borrow money, or those who already have debts, are likely to be interested in purchasing some form of protection insurance in the next few years. But before they do so they should shop around to make sure they are getting the best deal.’

However, as he also points out ‘there is little point in taking PPI cover for your credit card bill or a loan if you haven’t first protected your mortgage.’

So it is a case of shopping around for the best Payment Protection Insurance cover as well as the best price to meet your specific needs.

With all the negative press around the mis-selling of PPI there are no doubt a number of people who think they should claim back premiums as they feel they fall into the category of having been mis-sold a PPI policy.

This may or may not be the case but as Defaqto suggest it’s best to check your position carefully before jumping in and cancelling your existing PPI policy.

The last thing you want to find is that you do lose your job and you struggle to pay your mortgage and any other loan or debt payments.