Accident, sickness and unemployment, redundancy and Mortgage payment cover are similar types of PPI sold alongside loans or mortgages.

What will happen if I lose my job or become ill? How will I cover my costs?

Faced with these concerns, taking out accident, sickness and unemployment (ASU) cover or other income protection seems to make perfect sense. This kind of cover typically gives you a monthly tax free income should you be unable to work.

That's the theory. The reality can be different. As too many people are discovering, these expensive payment protection policies often don't pay out a penny when the going gets tough. In fact, they invariably add to our financial burdens rather than provide us with a safety net.

The small print in policies documents often contains numerous exclusion clauses. The income protection policies are invalid if, for example, you have a pre-existing medical condition. Stress and back problems are frequently not covered. Recurring conditions are excluded. Self-employed people often have to stop trading completely in order to make a claim.

Loan Payment Protection

Personal Loan Protection (PLP), including secured loan insurance and unsecured loan insurance, is one of the most common forms of payment protection. It's also one of the most expensive.

This kind of loan payment protection can be sold with just about any loan. Secured loan insurance is tied to an asset, usually your home. Unsecured loan insurance does not require this kind of security.

You might have purchased loan payment protection when you signed up for a loan to buy a kitchen or a car or to consolidate your debts. You could also have purchased it as credit card payment protection when you applied for a credit card. You might not even know you have Personal Loan Protection (PLP) insurance but be paying for it all the same.

This kind of cover can add a staggering amount to the total size of your debt. Moneyfacts data has looked at hundreds of cases and revealed the astonishing cost of loan payment protection. On one loan of £5,000, for example, the payment protection insurance premiums totalled £1,300 - over 20% of the total loan.

So should you have looked more closely at the terms and conditions? Not necessarily. If the costs of PLP were not made clear to you when you took out your loan, you may have a claim for mis-sold loan protection. If you have, call on us.