The company also pointed to information in the adverts, which included a web address in the qualifying text that enabled viewers to verify the claims.
It provided a comparison with the largest providers of over 50s life insurance in the UK market and directed readers to the Fairer Finance (a research and ratings agency that provided data on financial products) website which provided further substantiation.
Clearcast, which provided the advertising slot for Cover Today, told the ASA it had approved the claim “Cover Today are the only insurer to offer immediate cover” on the basis of Fairer Finance data that Cover Today supplied to Clearcast, and provided a copy of that data to the ASA.
Complaints dismissed
After its investigation, the ASA did not uphold the two complaints.
The ASA considered that viewers would understand both ads to mean that Cover Today’s over 50s life insurance gave immediate cover for death by any cause, and that they were the only UK insurer which did so.
Because the ads referred to being “fully covered” with Cover Today, consumers would likely understand that other insurers may give them some cover immediately but that it could take two years until they were fully covered.
The ASA said: "We assessed the evidence provided. The Fairer Finance rating for over 50s life insurance rated a large number of providers taking into consideration how long after a policy started until the full benefits could be claimed.
"Cover Today’s internal research provided information on the waiting period for full cover to start for the same providers as those referenced in the Fairer Finance rating, as well as several others, which we understood covered the full market.
"Cover Today were the only provider that did not require a waiting period until the full benefits could be claimed.
"We therefore considered that the comparative claims that Cover Today were the only insurer to offer over 50s life insurance with no waiting period for full cover to begin had been substantiated."
Therefore, because Cover Today was the only over 50s life insurer to offer immediate cover for death by any cause, the ASA has concluded that the ads were not misleading.
The agency did not find that Cover Today/Neilsen Financial Services was in breach, and therefore no further action was necessary.
Other complaints
The ASA has been ruling on an increasing number of insurance adverts across a range of media. Earlier this year, as reported first by FTAdviser, the ASA found against a Dead Happy advert featuring serial killer Harold Shipman.
