MARTIN'S URGENT WARNING: 
The PPI deadline is tomorrow, but check our new emergency PPI toolkit TODAY (Wed) to ensure you don't miss out 

No wonder my hair's starting to grey (what's left of it). I first warned about PPI way back in 2001. By 2005, I'd published my MSE reclaiming guide. Millions of free template letters have been downloaded from it and billions had been paid out before, years later, the regulator was eventually persuaded to intervene.

Now, with £36 billion already repaid, TOMORROW (THU 29 AUG) IS PPI DEADLINE DAY. DON'T IGNORE IT.  And yes, I am shouting, I'd shout from the rooftops if I could. A typical reclaim is about £3,000, so failing to check can cost you large. Don't assume you're not due. CHECK NOW if you or a  deceased relative has ever had a credit/store card, mortgage, overdraft, loan, car finance or catalogue debt.

And as for some it may be complex, and problems can occur, ACT AS IF THE DEADLINE IS TODAY to make room to jump any hurdles. To help, we've a new emergency PPI reclaiming toolkit.

After all, you never know... MoneySaver Hugh got PPI refunds back on 12 policies: "It was far easier than I thought. The info on MSE was so good - it was simple. Each claim took between 10 and 15 minutes max. Three hours' work for £153,000 is not bad." Here's my 5-min briefing...

PS: A beginner's briefing follows this section if you're not sure what this is all about.

1. The last time you can submit a PPI claim online is 11.59pm this Thursday, but DON'T leave it until then.  As long as you start a claim before the deadline, it then proceeds as normal and you're still allowed to escalate it to the free Financial Ombudsman later. Miss it and the only option will be the difficult and riskier court route.

Most banks will still accept claims online until 11.59pm tomorrow (Thu), including via our free PPI reclaiming tool, but phone and branch cut-offs are often earlier. See our bank-by-bank reclaiming deadlines.

Yet don't be a last-minute Lilly or Larry. Websites crash (possibly even our tool if, as expected, demand's massive). Phone lines get clogged up. And some small lenders' systems may not record claims on time. Expect the unexpected with such a huge deadline. Again, it's safest to say to yourself that today, Wed, is the real deadline and hurry.

2. In most cases, you simply need to check IF you had PPI to beat the deadline. Banks used to treat 'checking whether you had PPI' and 'complaining about PPI' as two separate things. Now almost all have agreed that someone simply asking if they had PPI is starting a complaint for the purposes of the deadline (see our bank-by-bank checklist).

So doing that means you can continue with the process later. If needed, it buys time to think further about why you're reclaiming - and either respond to the bank or add further information.

Yet I'd still strongly caution you to double-check that what you've done counts for deadline purposes and take notes of the time, date, who you spoke to (if on phone or in branch) and what they say.

3. You may be able to get across the line with bare minimum info. As well as your personal details, the minimum info you need is who your lender was. If you're unsure, check your credit file, which should list all your credit accounts that were active within the last six years.

You can do this online in minutes - get your Experian credit file via our free credit club, and for belt and braces, you can get Equifax and TransUnion files for free too.

Any extra info, eg, when you took it out and why you think you were mis-sold, will speed up the process, so give it what you can.

Once you've beaten the deadline, the pressure is off. Then you can follow through our main PPI reclaiming guide at a more leisurely pace.

One reason you may've ignored PPI until this point is confusion and fear. So let me briefly take you through the basics and how to get help...

- Isn't PPI what happens when you change a baby boy's nappy? Yes, but don't think about that for too long. It also stands for payment protection insurance - a policy sold alongside debt, meant to cover repayments if you lost your job or got sick.

In itself, it's not a bad concept. Yet banks and building societies sold PPI, which was often forced or snuck on customers. It was also outrageously overpriced, often only paying out for at most a year, which could've meant the maximum possible payout was less than the policy cost.

- Who should be checking if they had PPI?  If you've EVER had a credit card, mortgage, loan, overdraft, catalogue debt, car finance or a store card, you should urgently check (and check again) if you had PPI. Don't think 'I know I didn't' - they may've snuck it on even if you said no.

- Can I reclaim PPI for deceased relatives? Yes, see my Deceased relatives PPI reclaiming blog.  

- What's the biggest ever payout? The largest we've seen is £247,000, that was for small business PPI, though most people get a few thousand. Still, you never know.

- I know this is about mis-selling, but what does that mean? Banks sometimes scripted staff to hard sell these policies when someone took out debt. The mis-selling was often systemic - done by default, without checking the policies were appropriate. Common mis-selling types include being...

... lied to that you had to have it (it was never compulsory).
... given it without your permission.
... lied to that it'd get you a cheaper deal.
... given it when it was inappropriate, such as 'unemployment cover' for those who were self-employed, or not being asked about pre-existing conditions that invalidate it.

See the full mis-selling checklist. Even if you can't remember exactly what happened to you, lenders and the ombudsman will often consider whether others in similar positions were mis-sold the same way.

- Should I use a claims management firm? For the vast majority, no, as DIY claims are easy and free, while claim firms charge 20% plus VAT. Some firms do not do too much more than get you to fill in a form similar to doing it direct anyway. Our PPI reclaiming tool is free.

- Where can I get help if I'm stuck or if this is too much for me? The regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, has a free helpline on 0800 101 8800 (and for some vulnerable people, it can organise one-on-one help), as does the Financial Ombudsman Service on 0800 121 6222.

- What if I don't think I was mis-sold? (SPOILER: Many are likely still owed). PPI is an insurance product. The reason it was hard sold is because the banks were bunged a huge, disgustingly disproportionate amount of commission by insurance firms to do so.

In 2017, this came back to bite them in their corporately corpulent PPI backsides. A new 'Plevin rule', based on a 2014 court case, meant that if commission was more than 50% of the cost and you weren't told (I've never met anyone who was), you are due back the difference between 50% and the actual percentage charged.

Staggeringly, the AVERAGE commission banks were paid for loan PPI was 67%. So millions who've had PPI, even if it was correctly sold in every other way, are due something back - though it only applies to policies active in or after 2008. See more about opening or reopening a Plevin case in our guide. Do it quick, as the deadline applies here too.

If you think you were mis-sold in another way as well and haven't tried before, then do a normal mis-selling claim, as even if it rejects you for that, it has to consider Plevin as well.

I started this by saying I'd been warning, writing and broadcasting about PPI for 18 years. I've also done countless PPI interviews and shows, and have fought and met with the banks, regulator and ombudsman many times to push the consumer viewpoint.

We've had more than six million template letters downloaded and millions more have used our free tool that replaced them. In all, I'd guess we've perhaps helped people get up to £10 billion back. So it's no surprise this tune (skip the ad) is earworming in my head as I write.

Of course, many will be glad to see the back of the spam, scams and cold calling claims firms. Yet don't forget PPI reclaiming has been a phenomenal consumer revolution. It has educated people that they can take on mistreatment by the big institutions of finance, as well as partially rescuing the economy, with billions pumped back, especially during George Osborne's austerity.

Now it's over, well at least for the mainstream (it may still continue in the courts), in some ways I'll miss it. I've had innumerable joyous thank yous that often say it's been a life-changing financial pressure release. Though I suspect I'll still be telling people you can reclaim tax on PPI payouts for a while to come.