Not everyone is eligible to claim on a Payment Protection Insurance product in the first place. The following rules normally apply:

• For a mortgage PPI product, you must have a mortgage!
• You must be of a normal working age - between 18 and 65 years old.
• You must have been in employment for at least six months prior to taking out the policy and have an average working week of at least 16 hours.

Not all self-employed, sole traders or contract workers are able to get PPI for credit cards or loans

Assuming you are eligible for PPI, there are a number of common reasons why you may not get a payout if you make a claim, though some policies may not exclude all these situations:

• You knew you were going to lose your job or be made redundant when you took out the policy.
• Your work is seasonal.
• You left work voluntarily.
• You were sacked for misconduct.
• You have received pay in lieu of the period of unemployment.
• You have already had treatment or even simply knew about the medical condition, disease or illness that has caused your inability to work.
• You claim for an illness, disease or medical condition that is not covered by the policy. Many things such as pregnancy or backache are excluded - these should all be detailed in the policy document.
• You didn't have the policy you thought you had. Don't confuse mortgage PPI with a mortgage insurance guarantee (MIG). This is an insurance that you pay when you are borrowing more than 90% of the property value. The purpose of this insurance is to protect the lender and not you.