LifeSearch has highlighted the need to seek independent protection advice in a BBC Radio Scotland debate.
Matt Morris, senior policy adviser at LifeSearch, contributed to a discussion on Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) misselling and the damage claims management companies were doing by cold calling and mis-informing protection policyholders.
Speaking to host John Beattle, Morris said: "If people are unsure about what policy they have they can speak to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Or they can speak to an independent adviser but they just need to make sure the adviser is not linked to any specific bank or insurance company.
"They can also contact the Consumer Advice Bureau who should be able to put them in touch with someone."
He pointed out to listeners that there was a "very big difference" between PPI, life insurance and critical illness cover.
"PPI is greatly inferior to income protection and that is really where the misselling of PPI occurred because it was very easy to sell with no underwriting and was pumped out at an industrial level," Morris said.
"We regard income protection as the most important financial protection policy a person can buy."
