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Payment protection insurance (PPI) can be a very valuable product to have in your corner but it isn't suitable for everyone and the product had seen many problems when the Financial Services Authority began investigating the sector in 2005 after a super complaint was made to the Office of Fair Trading by the Citizens Advice.

Following the complaint an investigation began and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) handed out fines to several well known names on the high street for mis-selling payment protection insurance. The mis-selling from mainly high street lenders was due to them selling policies to those who couldn't possibly hope to claim against them such as those who were retired or self-employed.

The sector payment protection insurance sector is currently under review by the Competition Commission and they are conducting an in-depth review of the industry which is expected to reach conclusion in February 2009. The FSA is also still investigating and during the latest round have found that while some improvements have been made the cover is still confusing to the majority of consumers. Consumers often don't realise how much the total amount of the protection will cost and aren't aware of the exclusions within a policy at the time of buying. While fines were handed out to firms the FSA are now handing out personal fines to Chief Executives who have continued to mis-sell protection despite the warnings.

Payment protection insurance when bought correctly can give you an income if you should find yourself out of work due to suffering an accident, sickness or through unemployment and would begin to payout between the 31st day and 90th day of you being out of work continually. It would then continue to give you tax free income for up to 12 months and with some providers for up to 24 months to ensure that you don't get into debt by falling behind on the repayments.

Some of the most usual exclusions which can be found in the small print of a payment protection insurance policy include being of retirement age, self-employed, suffering from a pre-existing medical condition or if you only work part time. Always check the key facts and exclusions of a payment protection insurance policy before you buy to ensure that it wouldn't let you down in your time of need.