An on-line article concerning an advert of a direct insurer which transgressed the Code of Conduct of a professional body, was removed this morning.
We also prepared an article on this, but decided to refrain from publishing it until the reason for the withdrawal is known.
The advert apparently contained a price comparison in which the direct insurer compared its average price for a business insurance policy against the average price of its four closest rivals. In the advert, the direct insurer’s quote is significantly cheaper than that of its competitors.
This was challenged by a competitor, and it appears that it was, in fact, more expensive than the average of its three closest rivals. After a hearing, the industry body ruled that the advert was “ misleading, non-factual, not verifiable and accordingly in breach of its Code of Conduct”, according to the article.
Apparently a penalty was imposed on the direct insurer, instructing it to disclose details of the censure on its website for 60 days. An appeal against the penalty was dismissed.
OUTsurance has subsequently published the following statement on their website:
SAIA Ruling
“OUTsurance breaches SAIA Code of Conduct
The Code of Complaints Committee of SAIA has found that a particular OUTsurance television advertisement was misleading, non-factual and non-verifiable and was therefore in breach of the Code. An appeal against the sanction imposed was dismissed. The Ruling and the supplementary Ruling of the Complaints Committee is published in full and can be accessed by viewing the Ruling of SAIA Code of Conduct Complaints Committee document as well as the Supplementary Ruling of SAIA Code of Conduct Complaints Committee document.”
We are investigating the matter and will provide a progress report as facts come to light.
