Millions of pounds of compensation have been paid out by insurance companies. Are you entitled to a share? Could a claim now help to get your mortgage repayments back on track for the future? But you must act quickly - insurance companies are only allowing claims for a limited time.

If you took out an endowment insurance policy with an interest only mortgage after April 1988, it is highly likely you were one of the millions of victims of Endowment Misselling.

It is possible that you have received a letter from your endowment company warning you that your endowment investment is not on track to pay off your mortgage and advising you to find alternative means to pay off your mortgage. This is called a "Red Letter" and from the date this is sent you only have three years to claim compensation.

If you were told the policy would certainly pay off your mortgage or were promised an extra lump sum at the end of the mortgage or have had to make extra contributions to keep it on track, then it's likely that you could successfully claim.

Endowment policies should have been sold to customers willing to accept the risks involved with them. If you are normally a careful or cautious investor then a less riskier repayment mortgage would possibly have been better for you. There always was a risk that your endowment would not cover the mortgage, but had you known about that risk at the time would you have still taken out a policy?

If the answer is "no", then you should not have bee sold the policy - you are a victim of misselling. Instead of an interest only mortgage, you should have been offered a standard repayment mortgage.

Finding out whether a claim is worthwhile progressing is quite painless - just contact a suitable solicitor. Many have tools on their websites that will quickly allow you to determine whether a claim might succeed and this, as well as talking to the solicitor is normally free.

If you might have a claim the solicitor will help you through the paperwork and deal with the insurance company for you. They will also check your compensation and make sure that the offer is correct.

If you want to know whether you can claim, look at www.endowment-claim.org.uk. It only takes a minute to find out the answer or you can just leave your contact details and someone will call you back.

Keith Lunt runs several financial sites including http://www.endowment-claim.org.uk. You are welcome to reprint this article as long as all links are included and work.