INSURANCE giant Swinton was fined £7.4 million by the City watchdog for mis-selling "add-on" policies to as many as 650,000 customers.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said Swinton has set aside £11.2 million to repay customers, due to an "aggressive" sales strategy which prioritised profit over consumers' interests.
It found Swinton failed to provide enough information for customers and properly monitor calls when selling personal accident, home emergency and motor breakdown policies between April 2010 and April 2012.
Swinton did not explain the cover clearly enough or tell customers the monthly policies were optional, the FCA found. It did not give enough information about the terms of the policy and cancellation process.
Swinton "unreservedly apologises", has changed its sales script and improved its monitoring process. It has contacted over 650,000 customers who may have been affected and has already repaid £1.9m to customers.
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