The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has slammed a lead generation firm for using “misleading” and “irresponsible” adverts for private medical insurance (PMI) which were likely to cause fear among the audience.
In upholding a series of complaints against Pelham Health Ltd which trades as Save Money Market, the authority said the firm had showed a “disregard to its code” as it failed to respond to its enquiries or substantiate claims made in the advert.
As a result the ASA banned the ad in its current form and told Pelham Heath Ltd that future ads must not imply it was acting outside its trade, business, craft or profession, and the commercial intent of generating leads must be clear.
Additionally, the company was told marketing communications must not misleadingly suggest products were in high demand or include misleading price statements.
Any such price statements must state significant limitations and qualifications and future ads must not cause fear or distress without justifiable reason and must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.
The ASA also told Pelham Health to ensure it could substantiate claims before distributing or submitting a marketing communication.
Health & Protection contacted Pelham Heath for comment and was told the company is in the process of drafting a response to the ASA’s ruling.
‘Rushing to get PMI’
Pelham Heath placed its ad headed “UK Residents Are Rushing To Get £28 Per Month Private Medical Insurance” on a browser news feed and the Save Money Market website. It was seen on 1 June 2022.
People clicking on the ad were then directed to an advertorial on the Save Money Market website where a range of statements and claims were made about differences between the service levels patients receive from the NHS when compared to private health insurance.
In its response the ASA revealed Pelham Health Ltd did not respond to its enquiries.
It added it was concerned by the company’s lack of response and apparent disregard for the code and reminded the company of its responsibility to provide a response to its enquiries and told them to do so in the future.
Upholding the complaints, the ASA concluded the ad which contained links leading to a questionnaire on the Save Money Market website headed “Save Money On Private Medical Insurance & Protect Your Loved Ones” and “Get Your Free Private Medical Insurance Quote“ falsely implied that Save Money Market was acting for purposes outside its trade, business, craft or profession.
The ASA added the ad did not make clear its commercial intent to generate leads and was therefore in breach of the code.
The ASA also found that the ad misleadingly implied that the product was in high demand and that even its headline claim of “£28 Per Month Private Medical Insurance” was misleading.
This was because in addition to the lack of evidence to demonstrate that the price was achievable, the ads omitted any qualifying criteria on which the price was based, or otherwise did not make that information sufficiently clear.
According to the ruling, the approach taken in the ad, and the fear it was likely to cause, was not justifiable and therefore that the ad was irresponsible.
Additionally, the ASA found that in the absence of substantiation supporting claims relating to the NHS such as the ad’s questioning of whether the service could provide care required quickly and that with PMI, conditions are less likely to worsen as it provides a speedier service than the NHS, the ad was likely to mislead.
The ASA added the matter was also referred to the Committee of Advertising Practice compliance team.