In October 2011, the Financial Services Authority announced that redress paid to people who complained about the sale of payment protection insurance (PPI) had hit £1 billion.

And in November 2011, the latest figures available, firms paid back £379 million to customers – more money in one month than at any time since the data started being recorded*.

The data comes from 16 firms which together received 92 per cent of all PPI complaints made in the first half of 2011.

So, if you think you were mis-sold PPI, it pays to make a complaint. You could be entitled to compensation, too.

PPI is most commonly offered when you take out a loan or credit card, but you could have taken it out alongside your mortgage or even a hire purchase agreement on your car. It's designed to cover your monthly repayments if you lose your job or become too sick to work and keep up with them yourself.

You may have PPI without knowing it. It's sometimes called redundancy or loan protection insurance or accident, sickness and unemployment cover or mortgage payment cover.

There are lots of ways that PPI was mis-sold but, as a guide, you may have fallen victim to the practice if you weren't given a choice about having PPI as part of your loan or as a condition of being accepted for a credit card.  You may have been sold PPI without the full cost, terms and conditions being properly explained to you. Or you may have been ineligible for PPI, for instance if you had no income to protect because you were out of work or retired.

If you want to make a claim, you could go straight to your lender and ask them to right the wrong. But for many people, the process can be laborious and exasperating. On top of that, some people find it hard to trust the organisation that failed them in the first place, especially when reports indicate that around 90 per cent of rejected complaints are overturned at appeal**.

That's why many people contact a PPI advice company. Choose a Ministry of Justice authorised firm and go for one with legal and financial expertise, such as PPI Claimline which is a service from National Accident Helpline.

Firms like PPI Claimline will be able to tell you in minutes if they think you have a case. And it's no problem if you don't have a record of your loan documents because they will try and recover them from your lender. They will even look for any additional policies that you might not be aware of.

It's a no win, no fee service so claimants don't need to worry about how much they'll have to pay unless their complaint is upheld and they receive compensation, which could run  into thousands of pounds.

**http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/98/98.pdf