If you’re trying to protect your finances, it’s time to look back into your financial history. As they say, those that do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. The best way to go back in time so to speak would be to look at your past contracts. Surprised? Did you think we were going to do like most columns and talk about your past monthly bills? That’s one place to begin, but we don’t think that it’s the best place to really dig into the financial leaks that are running your budget dry. We prefer to look at the contracts you received when you first purchased an item or started a service. They give you a bird’s eye view of what’s going wrong.

Pay very close attention to the part of your contracts where it clearly encloses what your monthly spend is really going to. Payment protection insurance, or PPI, was sold to millions of consumers as a way to safeguard against the future. These salespeople never really told anyone that this insurance doesn’t cover everyone that purchases it. If you were self-employed and you lose your business, PPI isn’t going to step in and protect you. Likewise, if you had an existing condition that gets worse. You could find yourself fighting for your health and your finances at the same time, which is never a good situation to find yourself in.

Make sure that you step back for a while after you look over your contracts. Because when you find PPI — and it’s very likely that you will — you’re going to be upset. You have to avoid blaming yourself. When you don’t know something, it’s up to the salespeople involved in your deal to tell you about it. When they don’t do their job, how can you feel protected?

PPI claims even the score, get the attention of companies quickly, and could give you back thousands of pounds, including some interest earned for not having access to the money for so long. Don’t you owe it to yourself to at least book a no obligation, no hassle appointment? You just don’t know how much you could get back until you have a legal pro sit down and go over your unique details. Try it; what do you really have to lose?