Shop around for your payment protection
- 24TH OCTOBER 2007
Shopping around is the best way to secure the cheapest premiums and getting access to the information you need to determine if a payment protection policy is suitable for your circumstances. There are many standalone specialist providers and because they are specialists will be able to back their policies up with experience.
Payment protection is taken out by those who are in full time employment and who have loan repayments to make each month. They want to safeguard against the fact that they might come out of work and therefore lose their income after suffering from an accident, sickness or unemployment. Cover would kick in after a pre-determined length of time which can be anything from the 31st day of being out of work to the 90 days and then would continue to give you an income which would be tax free for up to 12 months and with some providers for up to 24 months.
While payment protection can be a lifeline policies have been mis-sold, the majority by the high street lender. One way of mis-selling was using a pre-ticked box when the cover was sold alongside loans bought online. The consumer had to un-tick the box if they didn’t want the cover which led to confusion and many ending up with a policy that was either useless due to the exclusions or which they didn’t realise how much the total cost would be.
Thankfully since the investigations by the Financial Services Authority over the last few years’ and the ongoing inquiry into the sector by the Competition Commission, many lenders have now agreed to change the way that cover is sold this way.
Buying the cover independently from the loan with a specialist in payment protection such as British Insurance will save you up to 80% on the premiums when compared to the high street lender and you can be assured as they are more ethical that you will have access to the vital information you need to make an informed decision regarding the suitability of the cover due to the small print and exclusions.
