Martin Lewis has important PPI warning as we reveal how to make a claim

The deadline to make a claim for mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI) is 11.59pm on August 29th, and you can still make a claim either directly to your bank or via a number of PPI reclaims companies who will take a percentage of any amount you are awarded.

More advice about your home: These 5 things could invalidate your home insurance – don't get caught out!

You may have been mis-sold PPI – a policy designed to cover loan repayments for a period of 12 months in the event of sickness or an accident – if you took out any of the products below between the period roughly stretching from 1990 and 2010:

• credit cards
• store cards
• mortgages
• personal and secured loans
• flexible loans
• business loans
• overdrafts
• hire-purchase agreements (for example, on a car)
• catalogue shopping accounts
• point of sale loans (for example, for furniture or appliances)

According to figures from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) a staggering £340.4m in PPI payouts were made to consumers in June 2019 alone, and figures cited by consumer champion Which? also reveal the average individual PPI payout comes in at £2,500.

PPI: How to claim

There are a number of free PPI reclaim tools consumers can use to check whether they may be eligible to make a PPI compensation claim, including the one offered by MoneySavingExpert. There are also a number of free sample reclaim letter templates that consumers can use to write to the providers that may have mis-sold them PPI including one offered by the Citizen's Advice Bureau (you'll need to do a quick Google search to find this) and Which?.

Many banks, such as Lloyds Bank, also have their own dedicated PPI complaints numbers and dedicated pages on the official websites, such as Barclays Bank, that will walk you through the PPI claims process.

In terms of the information you need to include in your letter/or have to disclose during your phone call, the FCA states that you'll need to provide the following as a minimum: 

• your full name
• your date of birth
• your phone number
• your current address

And if the following information is also available, then all the better:

• your previous addresses
• your PPI policy number
• when you bought your PPI policy
• when you took out the loan or credit product
• your circumstances at the time you bought PPI, such as employment status and the company or organisation you worked for

Speaking to The Sun, Martin Lewis also emphasised the importance of getting written confirmation that your PPI claim has been received and is in process.

He said: 'If you are checking directly with your bank, ask it for a written confirmation that your enquiry has been submitted, and that this means your claim is triggered.

'If it's on the phone or in person, make a note of the name of who you spoke to, the time of the call, and ask it to assure you the claim is triggered.

'Then email it to yourself so you have a time-stamped contemporaneous note.'