The top 10 ways to reclaim £100s or £1,000s

Check if you've had cash ripped from your pocket - then get it back

It's three years this week since we added our Resolver tool to our packaged bank account reclaiming guide... and this got us talking at MSE Towers about what the best reclaims are. After much fighting (you should see the scars from Martin's nails), we've come up with what we (mostly unanimously) think are the top 10 reclaims everyone should check to see if they're owed big bucks. Some you may know, some you may not - and to prevent any more injuries they're in no particular order...

1. Started uni since 1998? You may have paid off your loan when you shouldn't and be entitled to cash back. £300 is a typical reclaim, £1,100 the biggest we've seen.
   You could be owed money from the Student Loan Company if you started paying too early. Our Freedom of Information request found that in three years alone, over 100,000 university leavers repaid too soon. Yet as this could go all the way back to 1998, it's likely there are 100,000s more. See our full Student Loan Overpayments guide.
   
   As Mekila emailed: "I got £1,100 for early repayments before April 2009. It took literally five minutes. What a bonus - I can't believe it."
   
   
2. Had a loan, credit card, mortgage, overdraft or car finance in the last 30 years? You've less than a year left to check for PPI. Typical payout £3,000, our biggest-ever reported payout £153,000.
   Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) was systemically mis-sold alongside most debt products - sales staff were scripted to lie. So even though £30bn has been paid out, there's still billions more owed. The banks successfully lobbied for a deadline, and it's now less than a year away. Join over 7m people who've used our Free PPI Reclaim Tool and guide to find out if you're owed - and get your money back for free.
   
   KH emailed: "We believed we never had PPI until we saw you tell everyone to check, even if you didn't think you had it. We had three policies over the past 20yrs and got almost £5,000 back. Thank you."  
    
3. Flight cancelled or delayed by at least three hours any time since 2012? You may be entitled to compensation. Up to £530 per person.
   You can claim for EU-regulated flights if certain conditions are met -  eg, it must be the airline's fault. Use our free Flight Delay Reclaim Tool which helps draft your claim and escalate it too if needed.
   
   Nic emailed about claiming for his family: "Using Resolver we were told within 24 hours of submitting the claim we were due £1,406. Used it towards a holiday to Gran Canaria."  
   
   
4. Wear a uniform to work? You're entitled to claim tax  back. Typically £60-£185, biggest we've seen £250. 
   If you wear a branded T-shirt, overalls or other uniform for work, wash it yourself and don't wear it elsewhere, you're entitled to a tax rebate each year. Many haven't claimed it, so can get a backdated payout going back up to four years. See Uniform Tax Refund.
   
   Pete tweeted: "Used your uniform tax refund notes and received a letter saying they're refunding me £180 for the last 2 years. #Happy." 
   
   
5. Stung by bank charges? You can still claim if you're in financial hardship. Typically £100s, but can add up to £1,000s.
   While it's harder now than it used to be, reclaiming bank charges can still be done, but you need to be in genuine hardship to claim. We've free downloadable template letters to help in Bank Charge Reclaiming.
   
   Claire emailed: "I'll get six years of charges back and a goodwill £70 on top... total £865. Thanks Martin."
   
   
6. Paying a sky-high energy direct debit? Challenge it and you could get a refund. Typically £100s, but can be £1,000+. 
   Paying by monthly direct debit cuts energy costs by roughly 7%. Yet some providers massively overestimate how much energy you'll use over a year, so your monthly payments are too high. It usually just involves a quick call to lower them and get overpaid cash back. Plus old providers may owe you too. See How to Reclaim Energy Credit.
   
   The impact can be huge, as Chris tweeted: "I updated my meter reading and discovered I was over £1,300 in credit. Not only do I have a nice refund before Christmas but a better monthly direct debit too."
   
   
7. Baffled by a mysterious £79 payment to Amazon? Reclaim unwanted Amazon Prime. Usually £79 - can be more if you've paid out for longer.
   Amazon Prime gives users one-day delivery and access to services such as video streaming. Yet many have been charged for unwanted Prime membership - some who didn't even realise they'd joined in the first place. We've full help to cancel in Amazon Prime Refunds. 
   
   Forumite Gassey says: "I contacted Amazon, pushed them a little and got two years' Prime fees back, £158. Not bad for a five-minute phone call."
   
   
8. Ever paid a fee each month for your bank account? Check if you were mis-sold. Payouts range from £100s to £1,000s.
   If you've got or had a packaged bank account - where you pay a monthly fee for extras incl travel, mobile or breakdown cover - you may be owed cash. Many get these accounts for cheap insurance. Yet they've also been mis-sold on a massive scale. To help, we've a Packaged Bank Account Reclaim tool that we built with complaints specialist Resolver - it helps draft your claim, keeps track of it and escalates it if needed.
   
   Alice emailed: "I used Resolver to reclaim packaged account fees from 1995 to 2018 and got a whopping £3,902." 
   
   
9. Are you in the wrong council tax band? Check and challenge it. Typically £100s, biggest we've seen £13,000.
   Up to 400,000 homes may be in the wrong council tax band because the original valuations were slapdash. It takes ten minutes to check. If you are, not only can you get what you pay reduced, you can get a backdated payout from when you moved in. Don't just challenge willy-nilly though, or you could find your band hiked. Our Council Tax Bands guide has the full system.
   
   Sue emailed: "Thanks so much to Martin Lewis - because of seeing him on a TV programme I got in touch with my local council and received over £3,500 back." 
   
   
10. Use a London Oyster card or contactless to travel in the capital? You could be due a share of millions. A tenner's typical, but we've heard of a £72 success.
    If you failed to touch your card out at the end of a journey, you'll have been charged the maximum fare - but you can claim the difference back. Plus if you've an old Oyster, you can claim a share of £332m in old unused credit and deposits sloshing about. All it involves is a few clicks - our TFL Refunds guide shows how.
    
    Forumite Daaave says: "I ended up with 4-5 Oyster cards kicking about my house. Got £27 credit back. Took about 10 mins."