When you buy a smartphone, you are almost automatically offered insurance that covers the costs of loss, theft or breakage. It is in this area that the French company SFAM operates, renamed Indexia group in 2020. It is also active in our country under other commercial names: Switch, Cyrana, Cellside, Ubside Store.
In recent years, a large number of complaints from customers harmed by the Indexia group have been directed to the Belgian Financial Supervisory and Market Authority (FSMA) as well as to the Insurance Ombudsman. “It is often the same type of complaintexplains Nevt Degirmency, head of communications for the professional association of insurance companies, Assuralia.
She explains : “The customer initially takes out multimedia insurance, but after a few months he has to pay extra for ‘services’ that are not linked to the insurance product – such as printing pictures, faces for scooters or even creating a website. Those were hidden clauses.”
The customer can thus unilaterally see the price of his contract rise.
An approval withdrawn by FSMA
On 2 March 2022, the FSMA banned Switch Holding SA from marketing insurance products on Belgian territory. Hubside Store, another company within the same group, has also completed its registration as an insurance intermediary.
The French regulatory authorities have also suspended the ability to distribute insurance from France. “SFAM’s approval to carry out insurance distribution activities has been suspended by the French regulatory authorities since April 25, 2023. Therefore, they cannot distribute insurance in our country as well.” explains Hein Lannoy, CEO of Assuralia.
The company was convicted twice, in June 2019 and July 2022, in France. In addition to unnecessary bank withdrawals and concealment of information at the time of signing, the French consumer association UFC-Que Choisir condemned insistence on termination, forced subscription and deliberately complicated contract termination. The preferred targets were the elderly and students.
Why a complaint?
These SFAM policies are no longer marketed in Belgium, “but there are still active contracts in our country, no longer for insurance services, but for the additional services they charge”. According to Nevt Degirmency, there are still a few hundred, even a thousand, contracts active.
The complaint is the only possible remedy for Assuralia, according to Ms. Degirmency. “The French group is not a member of the Belgian federation. Control of foreign insurance intermediaries on the Belgian market is primarily carried out by supervisors for the country of origin..”
“There have been hundreds of complaints to FPS Economy, Test-Achat and the Insurance Ombudsman. And besides, the number of complaints doubled last year! And this practice damages the image of insurance companies. The sector is highly regulated and there are companies in Belgium that offer similar insurance products for smartphones and multimedia, but in a completely transparent way. We could confuse the products SFAM offers with the perfectly legal insurance available on the market..”
How to protect yourself?
If money has been unlawfully withdrawn from your account, you must block direct debit as soon as possible using your application, your PC or by going to the bank.
It is possible to recover amounts already withdrawn, still via your bank application, but this is limited to a period of eight weeks.
