ASA ruling against accident claims management company

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld that an accident claims management company, Adminall Accident Tel and Hastings Accident Tel, published two paid-for Google search results, and two websites, that breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 2.3 by misleadingly presenting themselves as insurance providers and not making clear their commercial intent.

1. The first paid-for Google search result featured the URLs “adminall.accident.tel” and “adminall.accident.tel/admiral/department”. Headline text beneath stated “Admiral Car Insurance Claim – Make a Claim”. Further text stated “Non Fault Accident – Call now to Check if you can claim in less then [sic] 30 seconds-Free Number […] Accident Claims Line Quality Work Done Quickly 100% Confidential Advice 24/7 Insurance Claim Helpline”.
2. The second paid-for Google search result featured the URLs “hastings.accident.tel” and “hastings.accident.tel/hasting/claim”. Headline text beneath stated “Report Your Hasting Claim – Car Insurance Claims Number”. Stating later, “If You Need to Report a Claim, Our Expert & Friendly Team are Ready to Help You Anytime Make Sure You Get What You deserve, Find Out if You Can Claim […]”.
3. The first website, www.adminall.accident.tel/, was the landing page for ad (a). It featured text which stated “Make a Claim Advisors available in our UK based Call Centre. Need Roadside Recovery? [phone number] Make a Claim [phone number]”. Further text stated “We provide assistance with roadside recovery and car hire these aspects of our service are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. In respect of minor personal injury claims, you do not need to use the services of a claims management company to make your claim, you may be able to do this yourself for free through the Official Injury Claim portal […]
4. The second website, www.hastings.accident.tel/, was the landing page for ad (b). It featured text which stated “Make a Claim Advisors available 24/7 in our UK based Call Centre. Need Roadside Recovery? [phone number]”. Further text below stated “We charge our garages for the marketing services we provide. The marketing costs are not passed on to any of our customers and have no impact on the level of service or compensation you receive. Our ‘No Win No Fee’ solicitors typically charge customers anywhere from 25%-40% from the compensation awarded, although this will be subject to your individual circumstances and the accident type.”

Hastings Accident Tel responded to clarify that they were an online leads aggregator who helped local, registered and regulated businesses to get qualified leads for accident recovery, car hire and damage repair, and that they were named after the town of “Hastings” rather than the insurer. However, they stated that they would stop running any ads using the name “Hastings” or using the web address Hastings.accident.tel.

ASA upheld the complaint as the advertisements were found to present themselves as if they were from Admiral and Hastings Direct, two well known as insurance companies. It was considered that consumers were likely to click on the links thinking that they could report accidents to the insurance companies, which was not the case. ASA considered the lack of prominence of the wording, “Our ‘No Win No Fee’ solicitors typically charge customers anywhere from 25%-40% from the compensation awarded […]” and found it to be insufficient, finding overall that Hastings Accident Tel falsely implied they were acting for purposes outside their trade, business, craft or profession and did not make clear their commercial intent.