There has been a big increase in men asking for help due to financial difficulties according to The Consumer Credit Counselling Service.  The CCCS is a charity that gives free help and advice to thousands of people every week throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Traditionally it has always been women who seek help. But the proportion of female clients at the CCCS has fallen and at the same time there had been a 51 per cent jump in the number of men calling the helpline over the last 3 years.

The data seems to back up that the fact that the recession has turned out to be like the recessions of the past by hitting working class men the hardest.

This theory seems to be backed up by The Office for National Statistics who have confirmed that more men have lost their jobs during the recession than women.

Women seem to be better at working more flexible hours and are usually more willing to work part time hours in order to get work.  Men, on the other hand, have quite often found it hard to take on part-time jobs once after they have been made redundant.

The loss of income, due to job losses, was the main reason for them asking for debt advice.  Nearly a quarter of men gave unemployment as the reason for their debt problems. A further quarter said that a reduced or irregular income was the reason for their current debt problems.

Many experts are predicting that many more people in the UK will soon be seeking help for debt problems as they have been using their credit cards to make ends meet through the current recession.

With those credit cards now at their limits and with the high monthly interest charges, many are finding it impossible to keep up with payments.

With the economy fragile, unemployment high and job security uncertain, it’s understandable that people take out payment protection insurance when borrowing money.  If you take ill or lose your job, the idea of Payment protections is it will cover your payments on your essential bills such as your  mortgage, loans, and even credit cards.  On the face of things, for a few extra pound per week, it looks like a no brainer but the problems start if you ever need to claim as the policy’s are usually filled with exclusions.

If you decide that you still wish to take payment protection, take the time to compare policies.  Taking out a policy with the company that your loan is with is usually a bad idea that could end up costing thousands of pounds.  You should also make sure you read the terms and conditions of the policy to see what exclusions there are.

Many people in the UK have been miss-sold payment protection.

Here are some examples of where PPI has been miss-sold.

1. Payment protection is considered to be mis sold if the person was made believe that they had to take it out as part of the finance or you were lead to believe that your loan approval was dependant on you taking payment protection..

2. You were unemployed, retired or self employed when you took out the policy.  You should be asked about your employment status before you apply.  This is because PPI (the employment cover) is only appropriate for people who were working when they took out the policy,

3. You had a pre-existing medical condition.

If you feel you have been miss-sold payment protection, you can claim compensation from the insurance company.

Lenders have a responsibility to make sure the borrower fully understands the payment protection policy but as Payment protection policies are extremely profitable, some companies focus more on selling targets than on making sure the customer fully understands what is best for them.

If you have a policy that you feel is not right for you or has been miss-sold, you could possibly be in the position to claim compensation.  This first thing to do is write a letter to the company you go the payment protection from.  In this letter you should explain that you think you were miss-sold your policy.  If the outcome of this is not satisfactory, you should escalate your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman.

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