Insurance giant Swinton fined £7.4m in mis-selling scandal
MANCHESTER-based insurance broker Swinton was yesterday fined £7.4m after being found guilty of ripping off hundreds of thousands of customers through the use of aggressive sales tactics.
An investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) found Swinton’s sales representatives would convince customers buying home or motor insurance to also buy add-on policies without making it clear that they were optional.
Swinton also failed to ensure all customers knew what was covered by the add-on policies – which include products such as personal accident insurance – or their cost.
Swinton, which has been told to set aside £11.2m to compensate affected customers, booked £92.9m of revenue from the relevant policies between April 2010 and April 2012. It has already written to 650,000 customers who may have been affected by mis-selling.
“Swinton did not place the consumer at the heart of its business,” said FCA director and board member Tracey McDermott.