IF warned over 'misleading' mailshot

INTELLIGENT Finance, Halifax‘s online mortgage bank, has been rapped by a watchdog for asking for insurance details from 120,000 customers.

Borrowers, who were asked to state the provider of their building and contents insurance, complained that IF, set up by Halifax four years ago, 'had no legitimate interest in their contents insurance and believed the purpose of the letter was to obtain that information for marketing purposes'.

Their gripe was that the bank 'misleadingly' said the information was important for their records. The Advertising Standards Authority upheld the complaint. IF, which is ultimately owned by HBOS, said it 'regretted' that customers might have thought they were required to give information and agreed to destroy the information.

The ASA also said it had asked them to 'ensure their future mailings did not imply that information was needed for official purposes if it was not'.

It is common practice for financial services companies to ask customers when insurance is due for renewal but IF‘s mistake was going one step further by saying that the information was necessary for the bank‘s records.