If you’re considering getting a debt consolidation loan as a way to end your debt, watch out that you don’t unwillingly end up buying protection you don’t want.

A new study found that over half of the loan providers they contacted automatically included and charged optional Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) in their quotes.

Quotes where obtained both online and over the telephone and while some lenders gave PPI as an option, many did not even inform consumers that they had added the charge. For people using their loan as a way to consolidate debt it could just be another obstacle making their debt management likely to fail.

Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) isn’t compulsory. It’s often sold alongside personal loans and credit cards and covers the monthly payments if the borrower can’t work because of an accident, illness or redundancy. For most people, getting income protection insurance may be a better option.

The study was conducted by Which? Martin Hocking, editor of Which? Money, urges consumers to ask if lenders are including PPI in their loan quotes.

“PPI is not always suitable, yet our research shows that lenders are still extremely keen to sell it to us,” Mr Hocking said.

“By adding PPI to loan quotes automatically, people could be tricked into buying it regardless of whether they need it or not.”