'I got a PPI reclaim of 2p' – is this the smallest reclaim ever?

Usually, MoneySavers tell us of their mis-sold PPI reclaims for £1,000s or £10,000s – we even heard from a businessman who reclaimed almost £250,000 – but Londoner Debbie Gillbert got in touch as she was so shocked to receive a cheque for 2p.

She put in a PPI complaint earlier this year to MBNA for a credit card she took out over 15 years ago. She couldn't remember the details of the card or PPI she'd taken out, so she didn't have any idea what sort of payout to expect.

Lloyds Banking Group, which took over MBNA two years ago, said the payout was so small as Debbie had only taken out PPI on the card for a very brief amount of time, and only paid 1p towards the policy.

See our PPI: Can I still reclaim? guide to see whether you can get cash back.

'It must have cost more in postage'

Debbie contacted us last week asking if her payout – which she received last month – was the smallest ever.

She said: "My payout from MBNA was a whopping 2p.

"The only thing that perplexed me was it must have cost them more in postage, and typing the letter about what the amount was for.

"I actually think the letter said I was owed around 1p but they rounded it up to 2p, but I don't have the final letter – it must have been thrown out in disgust."

What's the lowest payout we've seen?

Back in March, we reported on a MoneySaver who received a cheque worth 34p for mis-sold PPI.

This was the smallest reclaim we'd seen, though a Google search throws up a 2015 article in which a journalist writes about being paid just 3p.

On our forum, some users have also told stories of successful reclaims that have resulted in no payout. This is usually because the customer never paid any premiums.

Can you still reclaim PPI?

PPI stands for payment protection insurance. It's designed to cover your loan or credit card repayments for a year in the event of an accident, sickness or, in some cases, unemployment. About 64 million policies were sold, mainly between 1990 and 2010.

In itself PPI isn't a bad product, but it was widely mis-sold. People could reclaim if they were mis-sold, but the reclaim deadline for most people was in August this year, so the majority can no longer reclaim.

For a handful, exceptional circumstances might mean it's still possible, but for the majority, the door is firmly shut. However, many can still claim £100s in tax deducted from payouts.

See our PPI: Can I still reclaim? guide for full information.