Background
This Ruling forms part of a wider piece of work on misleadingness and imitation in ads for accident claims management companies. The ads were identified for investigation following intelligence gathered by our Active Ad Monitoring system, which uses AI to proactively search for online ads that might break the rules. See also related rulings published on 7 January 2026.
Ad description
A paid-for Google search ad and a website landing page for the accident management company lst Central Insurance Claimline, seen on 10 July 2025:
a. The first paid-for Google search ad was headlined “lst Central Insurance – Car Insurance Claims”. Text stated “Dedicated Accident Claims Line. Speak with an Insurance Claims Specialist. Available 24/7. UK…”. The ad stated “Sponsored” in the top left-hand corner and displayed a web address: “lst-central-insurance-claimline.com/claims”.
b. The website www.lst-central.insurance-claimline.com was the landing page for ad (a). It featured a pop-up box that stated “Speak to a Claims Handler Now” and gave a telephone number. The website stated “Claims Department” in the top left-hand corner. Text stated “Had a Non-fault Car Accident? Call Us Now We’re Here to Help As experts in accident management and personal injury claims, we take pride in standing by our clients in the aftermath of an accident, ensuring they stay on the road”.
Under the heading “Claims Process” text stated “Our UK-based team, dedicated to supporting claimants, simplifies the process for you. All you need to do is provide us with your accident details, and we'll handle everything else. We take over the entire claims process, eliminating the need for you to deal with your insurer's low touch points, the runaround, and their cost-cutting measures that can add stress and hassle to your claim. Say goodbye to unnecessary hold times. You'll have a dedicated claims handler with a direct line, ensuring your peace of mind. This provides you with easy access to our team without the need to fill out lengthy accident forms. You won't be left chasing your insurer or dealing with their supply chain. We offer comprehensive claims management from start to finish”.
Under the heading “Contact” text stated “For immediate assistance or to initiate the claims process, you can reach out to the claims department via our telephone number to connect with one of our experienced professionals, who are ready to support you through every step of your insurance claim”.
Issue
The ASA challenged whether the ads, by implying that they were for a car insurance provider, falsely implied that the marketer was acting for purposes outside its business and did not make clear their commercial intent.
Response
A digital advertising management agency who managed campaigns on behalf of their client who operated in the accident claims sector responded on behalf of lst Central Insurance Claimline. They acknowledged the ASA’s concern that the wording in the ads could be interpreted as suggesting an affiliation with the insurer 1st Central Insurance. They said automated keyword features had unintentionally caused the term to appear in the ad when consumers searched for it. They had now permanently disabled the automated feature for branded searches and all ads now stated “We are not an insurer – claims support services only”.
They said the websites had been taken offline and would be amended to remove any suggestion that insurer contact was unnecessary and to include the statement “We are not an insurer. You must still notify your insurer of any accident. Our role is to provide additional support and assistance”.
Assessment
Upheld
The CAP Code stated that marketing communications must not falsely claim or imply that the marketer was acting as a consumer or for purposes outside its trade, business, craft or profession; marketing communications must make clear their commercial intent, if that was not apparent from the context.
The ASA understood lst Central Insurance Claimline was an accident management company that dealt only with no-fault accidents. It had no direct connection with 1st Central and therefore could not assist customers of that company in making a claim on their insurance policy following an accident.
Ad (a) featured the headline “lst Central Insurance – Car Insurance Claims” and twice mentioned the web address “lst-central-insurance-claimline.com”. The ad also featured the claims “Dedicated Accident Claims Line” and “Speak with an Insurance Claims Specialist”.
1st Central was the trading name of First Central Insurance Management Ltd, a well-known insurance company. We considered that ad (a) presented itself as being from that company. Although the lower- case letter l was used in place of the number one in the term “Ist”, we considered because of the similarity in the spelling, and given the context in which the wording appeared, the incorrect spelling of 1st was likely to be overlooked by consumers. We considered consumers were therefore likely to understand that by clicking on the link, they could contact 1st Central’s claims department following a motor accident.
Ad (b), the website landing page for the link in ad (a), featured an initial pop-up box which stated “Speak to a Claims Handler Now” the webpage made references to “Claims Department” and “Accident Claims Line” and the “Contact” text stated “For immediate assistance or to initiate the claims process, you can reach out to the claims department […]”, which we considered suggested that consumers were contacting an insurer directly. We considered the web address “www.lst-central.insurance-claimline.com” further contributed to the impression that customers of 1st Central would be able to begin processing their accident claims through that website, however, that was not the case. While the landing page included the claim “experts in accident management” and referred to “your insurer”, we considered that those references were insufficiently prominent to alter the overall impression created by the ad.
We considered further that consumers were likely to be unaware of the nature of the service being offered in the ads, by a company who operated in the accident claims sector, and of the potential costs and risks of not contacting their insurer. For example, we understood there were potential costs associated with a replacement vehicle, which we understood was generally provided on a credit hire basis, costs for vehicle repairs or storage costs charged by the businesses they were referred to. In addition, we understood there was a risk of loss of specific benefits under a consumer’s own insurance policy, or of impact on existing insurance cover, if they did not notify their own insurer of an accident, irrespective of whether a claim was made.
Because lst Central Insurance Claimline misleadingly presented themselves as an insurance provider in ad (a), and the landing page ad (b), and did not make clear they were an accident management company, we considered the ads falsely implied they were acting for purposes outside their trade, business, craft or profession and did not make clear their commercial intent. We concluded that the ads breached the Code.
Ads (a) and (b) breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 2.3 (Recognition of marketing communications).
Action
The ads must not appear again in the form complained of. We told Persons Unknown t/a lst Central Insurance Claimline to ensure they did not falsely imply they were acting for purposes outside of their trade, and to ensure that their future marketing communications made clear that they were an accident management company.
