ASA Adjudication on Churchill Insurance Company Ltd

Ad

A TV ad, for Churchill Insurance, featured a male voice-over that stated “Homeowners of Britain, now really is the time to challenge Churchill. Yes, challenge Churchill. Until the end of June, we really do guarantee to beat your home insurance renewal by thirty pounds.” A woman asked “You’ll really guarantee to beat my home insurance renewal by thirty pounds?” To which Churchill the dog replied “Oh yes”. A man then asked “Can I really make a claim without filling in any forms?” To which Churchill the dog replied “Oh yes”. On-screen text stated “New customers only, with 3 claim free years until 30/06/08. Cover must be on an equivalent basis to ours. £75 minimum premium. Qualifying criteria apply.”

Issue

A viewer, who had been sent a form to complete when making an insurance claim, challenged whether the ad was misleading.

BCAP TV Code

Response

Churchill Insurance Company Ltd (Churchill) explained that when a home contents claim was registered with them, their Claims Handlers were prompted to ask specific questions to determine whether the claim could be validated straight away and then passed for settlement.  However, Churchill explained that approximately 40% of home contents accidental damage and loss claims needed to be referred to their Claims Validation Unit for further clarification.  Churchill said, wherever possible, the Claims Validation Unit would try to deal with claims and obtain further information via telephone.  Churchill conceded that some claimants, whose claims had been passed to the Claims Validation Unit, would be sent a declaration form or statement to complete.  They estimated that this happened in approximately 20% of cases.  Churchill apologised for using the claim and said they believed, in light of the complaint, the statement had been used in error and advised that they would ensure the claim was not used in future advertising.

Clearcast explained that they had sought an assurance from Churchill for the claim that no forms needed to be completed and were advised by Churchill that it was their standard policy to deal with all claims through their Teleclaims department.  Clearcast advised that, had they been aware of the fact that only 80% of people were able to claim without completing a form, they would not have approved the claim in its current form.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA was concerned that Churchill had not provided Clearcast with full information at the clearance stage and noted that we had had similar concerns in a previous investigation.  However, we welcomed Churchills admission of error and their assurance to remove the claim from future advertising and commended them on their ready co-operation in this respect.  We noted that a significant number of claimants would be asked to complete a form, and we considered that, because the ad stated that claimants could make a claim without having to fill out any forms, the ad was misleading.

The ad breached CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code Rules 5.1 (Misleading advertising), 5.2.1 (Evidence), 5.2.2 (Implications) and 5.2.3 (Qualifications).

Action

The ad must not be broadcast again in its current form.  We also reminded Churchill of their duty to ensure that all relevant information was provided to the clearance centres when seeking approval of their broadcast advertisements.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)