ASA Adjudication on Simplyhealth Ltd

Ad

A TV ad, for HSA healthplans, featured the thoughts of a woman in a car with her family. As she struggled to look at a road map, she was heard to think “I need new glasses but how can I afford them?”. A sleeve-like puppet appeared and said “Hey, jus’ say”. Looking at her young son, the woman thought “How can I keep up with their dental check-ups?”. The puppet appeared again and said “Hey, jus’ say”. The father was shown trying to get comfortable in his seat. The woman’s thoughts were heard as “What if his back treatment gets expensive?” The puppet replied “Hey, jus’ say”. Another car drove by with a second puppet and both puppets said “Hey, jus’ say”. The voice-over said “To help pay for check-ups, treatment and emergencies … Hey jus’ say. HSA. Healthplans. Simple. Affordable”. On screen text stated “HSA. Healthplans. Simple. Affordable”.

Issue

1. Eight viewers believed that the ad was misleading because it implied there was a cost for children's dental check ups and treatment, which they understood were free under the NHS. They believed the ad might encourage consumers to buy unnecessary insurance.

2. Two viewers believed the ad was misleading because they understood that HSA had a two-year moratorium on existing conditions and would not cover the husbands back problems as claimed in the ad.

BCAP TV Code

Response

1. HSA said they acknowledged that children were entitled to free NHS dental treatment but believed that many parents chose for their children to receive private dental treatment because they were unable to find an NHS dentist in their area, or because they preferred their children to see a private dentist.  They said they understood from NHS statistics that 100,000 fewer children visited a dentist in England between the 24 months leading up to 30 December 2006 and the 24 months leading up to 30 June 2007.   They supplied statistics to show the number of children under 18 years of age who had been added to their parents HSA Dental Plan and the number of dental claims made for children under 18 yers of age.

Clearcast said many people had difficulty in registering with an NHS dentist in their area and that, by joining HSA, they could afford to spread the cost and go private.

2. HSA said the ad was for their Health Cash Plans, which covered everyday health benefits including optical, dental and physiotherapy, but said the plans did not have a two-year moratorium. They said one or two of the plans did have a qualifying period but the ad did not refer specifically to those plans.  They confirmed that their Personal Medical Plan, a Private Medical Insurance plan, had a two-year moratorium and covered members for different types and levels of benefits but did not cover optical or dental benefits.  They said the ad did not refer at any point to the Personal Medical Plan and believed there was no reference, either implicitly or explicitly, to the immediacy of treatment or whether the plan covered pre-existing conditions.

Clearcast said the ad did not specify any particular HSA policy or plan and they were advised by HSA that, if the husbands existing back pain required physiotherapy, the Health Cash Plans would cover this.

Assessment

1. Upheld

The ASA noted all children under 18 years of age were entitled to free dental check-ups and treatment under the NHS. We acknowledged that some parents had difficulty in finding NHS dentists or simply preferred to seek private dental treatment, but we considered that the ad did not make clear that it was offering an alternative to NHS treatment.  We considered that the mothers concern about how she could keep up with the cost of her childrens dental check-ups implied there would be a charge for such treatment, which we understood would only be the case if treatment was undertaken privately.  Because not all viewers were likely to be aware that child dental healthcare was still free on the NHS, we considered that the ad might confuse some viewers about whether there was always a cost incurred.  We concluded that, because the ad gave the impression that there was normally a charge for child dental healthcare, it was misleading.

On this point, the ad breached CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rule 5.1 (Misleading advertising).

2. Upheld

We noted HSA Health Cash plans covered physiotherapy, but understood that some of the plans had qualifying periods and the HSA Personal Medical Plan had a two-year moratorium on existing conditions.  While we acknowledged that the ad did not mention any specific plan, we considered that, because the ad had not stated otherwise, it implied physiotherapy for existing conditions was covered by all HSA plans.  Because existing conditions were not covered by all HSA plans, we concluded that the ad should have qualified the claimed benefits.

On this point, the ad breached CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 5.1 (Misleading advertising) and 5.2.3 (Qualifications).

Action

The ad should not be broadcast again in its current form.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)