Is it just us or are we the only ones that get annoyed by that irritating Churchill insurance dog?

After what seems like decades of calling on us to "challenge Churchill" in its TV commercials, one customer has done exactly that…

..and he has successfully silenced the talking dog after making a successful complaint to the advertising regulator!

Churchill's long-running TV ad campaign, features the amiable cartoon bulldog touring the UK challenging us to find a better deal than the insurance company can offer.

In the TV ad Churchill is asked by a man if it is possible to "make a claim without filling in any forms?".

The dog's stock answer has always been "Oh, yes".

Well, not any more it isn’t! 

A viewer complained on the grounds that the TV ad was misleading. The reasoning was that it was because a form was sent out when someone was making an insurance claim.

Churchill Insurance said that "wherever possible" the company tried to sort out any claim details necessary via telephone. However, they did admit that "some claimants" (about 20% of cases) would be sent a declaration form or statement for them to complete.

The company has now apologised and said the claim was used "in error" and it would not be repeated in future TV ads.

In its ruling the Advertising Standards Authority said it was concerned that Churchill, not for the first time, had not provided full information about claims in ads at the clearance stage, when they are submitted to vetting body Clearcast.  The ASA banned the ad from being broadcast in the same form again.

In its ruling, the ASA said

"We noted that a significant number of claimants would be asked to complete a form, and we considered that, because the ad stated that claimants could make a claim without having to fill out any forms, the ad was misleading.”

So, someone finally did ”challenge Churchill”; and he lost!

So, shut it dog!

Does the Churchill dog annoy you as much as us? Why not let us know? 

Need insurance? Check out our new insurance section.