Advertising watchdog bans insurance aggregator's controversial advert

A comparison website for private healthcare insurance has been ordered by the advertising watchdog to remove scaremongering claims it made about the NHS in a bid to sell insurance.

The website, bestmedicalcover.co.uk, which searches for quotes from Allianz, HSA, General & Medical, Freedom, Prudential and AXA, included a web page titled “Your 3-Step Guide to Avoid the NHS Crisis”.

The text stated: “Our National Health Service has been making regular appearances in the news lately. The most recent report by NHS England medical director, Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, highlighted the staggering 13,000 deaths that occurred between just 14 NHS sites since 2005. This awful statistic, he believes, is likely to have been a tragic consequence of negligence which could have been easily avoided.

“With policies costing from as little as 70p per day, health insurance is no longer just a luxury – it’s an affordable and practical way to protect your health.”

Further text stated: “Unlike other forms of insurance that not everyone will need, health insurance benefits everyone. Should you need it, it could quite literally save your life!”

Complaints

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received 54 complaints from people who believed that the ‘13,000 deaths’ claim and references to the Keogh Review misrepresented the report. And 17 of the complainants also challenged whether the website breached advertising rules by using an appeal to fear to sell health insurance.

eSmart Media, which trades as Best Medical Cover, said it took the 13,000 figure from press reports rather than the report itself, but added that they understood the figure was now disputed and said they would not refer to it in future advertising. In fact, Sir Keogh did not quantify the number of avoidable deaths in the NHS and described attempts to do so as “clinically meaningless and academically reckless”. 

The advertising code says marketing communications “must not cause fear or distress without justifiable reason”.

While consumers might buy private health insurance because they were concerned about the standard of NHS care, the watchdog said references to excess deaths and an “NHS crisis” were not justified.

The ASA told eSmart Media it must have “robust substantiation” to support claims in its adverts and ensure that any references to the NHS did not use an appeal to fear.

It banned the advert from appearing again.