Unlike a PPI policy, you can tailor an income protection insurance policy to your specific needs.燳ou can decide how long it will pay out for and whether it pays out only for redundancy or for accident, illness and redundancy.

If you think you may have PPI, you need to see how much you are paying for it. Write to your lender and ask if you have the insurance and how much it is costing. If you have a monthly policy, you can cancel it instantly. However, if you have a single premium policy, it is slightly more complicated.

New rules brought in by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) means you can cancel your policy before the end of the term and爐he lender must give you a fairly calculated refund, but you can be charged reasonable costs.

The Financial Ombudsman Service will check if you do not think it is fair or if they refuse to pay a refund refer them to the ombudsman. If the policy does not meet your needs you may be able to claim that you have been mis sold it, for example if you were sold the insurance face-to-face and not told about exclusions.

Which? has a section on its website about reclaiming PPI insurance. It has template letters which you can download to send to lenders to start the process. Michael Challiner