IKEA Ruffles Insurance Feathers

Canadian brokers have added their own voice to broad insurance industry disapproval of an IKEA television ad recently aired which many believe promotes insurance fraud. In a letter to Advertising Standards Canada, Insurance Brokers Association of Canada (IBAC) CEO Dan Danyluk makes formal complaint against the commercial, which appeared on CFTO on March 10.

As Danyluk notes, the commercial shows a couple receiving payment for a fire loss, with a voiceover noting that the settlement is an overpayment of the value of their kitchen. The customers decide to accept the overpayment, tantamount to insurance fraud. “This act is a very excellent example of fraud, and in airing this commercial IKEA is in fact supporting this illegal activity and makes light of the idea of insurance crime,” Danyluk says. He adds that IBAC believes the commercial violates the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards clause regarding unacceptable depictions and portrayals. Danyluk’s letter follows on the heels of a complaint letter to IKEA Canada from the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC).