We were contacted by an individual who had applied for public liability insurance using an online comparison website.
In order to obtain a quote the individual was asked to disclose the convictions, both spent and unspent, of all family members, even those that were not involved in the running of the business.
As it was difficult to establish a suitable contact to raise this with at the comparison site, we raised the issue with the Association of British Insurers (ABI). They, in turn, contacted the comparison site.
We were later informed by the ABI that the comparison site had taken on board our concerns and had amended the wording on their site to reflect the fact that anybody purchasing public liability insurance only needed to disclose the unspent convictions of individuals who had a financial interest in the business. The question was changed to:
Has anyone with control over a financial interest in the business including you, your family or any partner/principal/director, been convicted of any criminal offence other than a motoring offence or an offence that is now considered ‘spent’ under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974?
Lessons
This case showed that whatever type of company you are and whatever type of insurance policy you are selling, it’s important to ensure that the questions you ask are relevant and related to the appropriate people.
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Notes about this case study
This case study relates to our work with other organisations.
Names and details have been changed to protect the identity of those involved.
