The advertising watchdog has continued its clampdown on misleading marketing by volume claims firms. The Advertising Standards Authority has published details of three cases of claims management companies implying they were linked to a motor insurer. All three companies were told to ensure that future marketing makes clear that they are trying to gather consumers’ personal details in order to generate leads.
The ASA said its latest action forms part of a wider piece of work on misleading advertisements for accident claims management companies, who then refer cases onto law firms. Intelligence was partly gathered by an AI monitoring system which has been directed to search for online ads that might break the rules.
In one of the three new cases, paid-for Google search results involving a company called Freedom Debt Ltd brought up website URLs which featured references to Admiral and Hastings – both the names of insurance firms. The ASA challenged whether the ads, by implying they were for a car insurance provider, falsely implied that the marketer was acting for purposes outside its business. Lawyers for Freedom Debt Ltd said the web addresses and websites would not be used in any campaigns again.
In a second case, a company named Dean Harrison, trading as Report Incident, had paid-for ads which gave links referring to esure, Hastings and Churchill – again the names of insurers. It had no direct connection to these companies and therefore could not assist their customers in making a claim on their policy following an accident.
The company did not respond to the ASA’s enquiries and the watchdog said this showed ‘apparent disregard’ for the advertising code of conduct. Again the company was told to ensure that future marketing made clear it was an accident claims management business. The same instruction was given to a third claims company, whose name was not revealed, which also appeared to imply on sponsored Google searches that it was linked to an insurer.
The digital advertising agency that managed these ads said websites had been taken offline and would be amended 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'.
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