ASA Adjudication on British Gas Services Ltd

Ad

A TV ad, for British Gas HomeCare boiler repairs, showed a man wearing a coat, hat and scarf in a freezing house. He brought a bowl of cereal into the living room to find it inhabited by Inuit people. A voiceover stated "No hot water, freezing cold house: when your boiler breaks down, things can quickly turn arctic. Call British Gas HomeCare on 0800 XXX XXX and you can avoid the misery, because we'll get an engineer to your boiler breakdown fast. In fact, if you have no heat or hot water, eight times in ten we'll be there the same day. From only £9 a month, enjoy the peace of mind of knowing that if your boiler breaks down, it'll be in expert hands." The ad showed an engineer fixing the man's boiler; on-screen text stated "HomeCare range now from just £9 a month. 1st year Flexi DD with £50 fee. Conditions, regional restrictions & prices apply." The voiceover continued "Choose between a fixed fee of £50 per repair, or pay a little more each month and get all repairs completely free …"; on-screen text stated "Includes parts, labour and unlimited call-outs". After the engineer had completed his repair, the Inuit people left the warm house.

Issue

Two viewers thought it was misleading to claim that all repairs were "completely free", because customers had to pay more each month to avoid a fixed fee of £50 per repair.  They believed repairs under the more expensive service were inclusive, not free.

BCAP TV Code

Response

British Gas Services (BGS) said the HomeCare range described in the ad consisted of two services: HomeCare Flexi and HomeCare.  They explained that both services provided the same benefits, depending on the level of service selected, relating to boilers and controls, central heating, plumbing, drains and electrics, for example HomeCare Flexi 100 provided the same benefits as HomeCare 100.  BGS said the only difference between HomeCare Flexi and HomeCare was the payment method.  They argued that the £50 customers had to pay with HomeCare Flexi was a delayed payment towards the annual HomeCare contract and was applicable only if BGS completed a repair; they said it was essentially a penalty for opting for the lower fixed price per month in the hope that a repair would not be necessary.  Customers who expected their boiler to break down or who preferred financial certainty chose the non-Flexi option and paid a higher fixed price per month in the knowledge that no extra costs would be payable.

BGS argued that HomeCare customers did not pay a little extra each month for repairs; they paid the full cost of a HomeCare contract for a package of benefits.  They said the ad's reference to "free" communicated that those who paid the full cost of HomeCare upfront had nothing more to pay.  They said the £50 payment was not for the repair but was a HomeCare fee for the annual HomeCare contract.  They used the HomeCare 100 and HomeCare Flexi 100 services as an example and pointed out that HomeCare 100's fixed fee was £4 more per month, or £48 more per year, than HomeCare Flexi 100's, but that did not even cover the cost of a single repair; similarly, the £50 payable at the end of each completed repair on the Flexi option did not cover the cost of a repair.  They reiterated that those 'extra' costs were not for repairs or for any single component of HomeCare but for the whole package of benefits.

BGS said many customers did not have any repairs carried out during their contract but that did not mean they were wasting their money or paying for something they had not received, because the payment they made was for a package of tangible and intangible benefits, including an annual safety and maintenance inspection, tips on reducing energy costs, and the peace of mind of knowing that if their boiler had a problem, it would be fixed as a priority without a bill that could otherwise run into thousands of pounds.

Clearcast said the word "free" was used in a conversational way in the ad.  They believed that, although the repairs were not technically free, the ad was drawing a distinction between paying a small monthly fee plus an extra £50 per repair and paying a bit more monthly but not having to pay any extra for repairs.  They argued that viewers were left in no doubt as to what they would get for their money and could not be said to be misled.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA noted BGS's argument that the £50 payable with HomeCare Flexi and the extra payment per month with HomeCare were not for repairs but for a package; however, we also noted the ad did not convey that argument; it suggested that the £50 was for a repair and that the little extra each month was for free repairs.  We therefore considered that viewers were likely to infer that repairs under the more expensive service were not free, because they were not 'something for nothing': customers had to pay more per month for them, which constituted an increased burden.

We noted that BGS used the HomeCare 100 and HomeCare Flexi 100 as an example and acknowledged that the £48 extra per year and the £50 payable at the end of each completed repair were unlikely in themselves to cover the cost of repairs.  Nevertheless, we considered that customers were paying for a package of benefits that included repairs.  We further noted the difference between HomeCare 200 and HomeCare Flexi 200 was £48 extra per year, between HomeCare 300 and HomeCare Flexi 300 was £84 extra per year and between HomeCare 400 and HomeCare Flexi 400 was £96 extra per year.  We noted those costs may or may not, in themselves, cover the cost of repairs.   

Regardless, we considered that BGS were offering the options of paying slightly less per month with a fixed fee of £50 payable on completion of a repair, or paying the full amount per month with no extra costs applicable; they were not offering free repairs.  Because the repairs under HomeCare were part of a package which customers were paying for, we considered they could be described as inclusive, or as being at no extra cost, but to describe them as free was misleading.

The ad breached CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 5.1 (Misleading advertising) and 5.2.4 (Use of the word 'free').

Action

We told BGS not to describe the repairs under HomeCare as "free".

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)