RSA-owned insurer ordered to make TV apology over ads

RSA-owned Link4 has been ordered to apologise on Polish TV and pay £21,329 for attacking insurance brokers in adverts.

Polish authorities clamped down on direct motor insurer Link4, which produced adverts that showed brokers in a highly negative light.

According to the Polish Chamber of Insurance Finance Intermediaries, the adverts showed grimacing and desperate men, backed with slogans saying: “Insurance agents throughout Poland are suffering – already 300,000 drivers left their agents and moved to Link4.”

Another slogan said: “Tears of insurance agents are not surprising. Already 300,000 drivers left their agents and moved to Link4.”

The Warsaw Appellate Court sustained a previous judgment and ordered Link4 to apologise to insurance brokers on television and in the press for their offensive advertisements. Link4 was also ordered to pay a 100,000 zloty (£21,329) donation to a good cause.

The court also upheld a ban on most of the adverts. Link 4 was originally sued by PIPUiF, the trade body for brokers and financial intermediaries in Poland.

Another case is pending regarding a different series of commercials, instituted against Link4 by PIPUiF. The intermediaries are also contemplating filing a class action lawsuit.

An RSA spokesman stressed that the adverts were screened before the group bought the business, but added that the court ruled that they were “true and useful”.

He said: “The court rejected the intermediaries’ appeal and ruled that the adverts … did not mislead the customer, but conceded that the content was offensive to some parties. The advertisements last aired several years ago, long before RSA acquired control of the business, so while we will abide by the judgment we also look forward to moving on.”