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ASA criticises insurer for 'X-ray' advert

Insurance provider Friends Provident has been criticised for mis-selling services by the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA).

A mail shot from Friends Provident was found to resemble medical test results too closely and could potentially have caused customer confusion, the BBC reports.

Contained in an official-looking rigid brown envelope complete with 'do not bend' warning, the firm sent recipients an X-ray photo showing a broken bone - advertising income protection insurance.

The cover works by offering funds should the policyholder be forced out of work through an illness or an accident - such as one which breaks a bone.

However, the ASA said that the advert was "masquerading as official medical records" and therefore broke its regulations.

Responding, Friends Provident said that the mail shot would not be repeated - and conceded that it could potentially have caused distress to recipients who were waiting for medical records for themselves or for a family member.

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