The insurance and emergency repairs company Homeserve says it has suspended all telephone sales activity after an independent report found call centre staff were guilty of mis-selling.
The review, conducted by Deloitte on behalf of HomeServe, found that there were “cases where its sale processes did not meet the company’s required standards”.
Homeserve offers customers emergency response units for burst pipes and boiler emergencies and also sells insurance to protect against such events. The company has 3m customers in the UK who hold 7.5m policies.
The majority of revenue comes through utility partnerships. The company is valued at £1.6bn.
HomeServe said that it would not make outbound calls until staff had completed re-training courses. It is estimated that up to a fifth of HomeServe’s 2,900 staff will need re-training.
Chief Executive Richard Harpin said that the company was committed to ensuring that its staff delivered top quality customer service, and that it had developed a script for telephone staff to use. “We are determined to ensure customers receive the highest standards of service and we have therefore taken swift action to address the issues identified by our review,” he said.
Homeserve was founded in 1993 by Harpin as a joint venture with South Staffordshire Water and has grown rapidly in recent years.
