ASA Adjudication on Scottish and Southern Energy plc

Ad

Two direct mailings and two mailings for Scottish and Southern Energy's gas central heating protection.

a. The first direct mailing stated " ... Keep everything working perfectly - Full annual service of your boiler (Scottish Gas don't currently give you this) ... Maybe it's because with our gas boiler and central heating breakdown service, our CORGI registered engineers will do more than just check your boiler each year (like Scottish Gas), they'll completely service it ...".

b. The second direct mailing stated "... Not only do we offer a full safety and maintenance check of your entire central heating system but, unlike British Gas, Southern Electric give shield customers a free comprehensive annual service of their boiler, worth around £60 ...".

c. The first mailing stated " ... The Southern Electric Promise: Full comprehensive annual service of your boiler (British Gas Homecare 200 doesn't include an annual service) ... shield - more cover than British Gas and over 15% cheaper ...".

d. The second mailing stated "... More cover than British Gas - and over 15% cheaper too ...".

Issue

British Gas Services (BGS) challenged whether:

1. the claims in ads (a), (b) and (c) that Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) offered a full service of a boiler while BGS did not, were misleading, because they believed their HomeCare product offered a full service as part of their 'Safety & Maintenance Inspection'; and  

2. the claim "more cover than British Gas" in ads (c) and (d) could be substantiated.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

1. SSE said they had used the claims because they carried out a full strip-down service of every customers boiler unless the manufacturer advised against an annual service; they understood that BGS did not offer that service. They referred to the current British Standard BS7967-4: 2007 which defined a service as regular and planned activity on an appliance to check and ensure that it was working safely and correctly. They said the British Standard defined maintenance as work carried out to an appliance to repair any defect and a safety check as examinations and tests to ensure that a gas appliance and any associated flue operated safely. SSE said, on that basis they believed maintenance or safety check did not imply that a service would be performed.  They said the evidence they had seen indicated that the British Gas HomeCare product provided a safety and maintenance inspection and therefore not a service as defined by the British Standards.  They sent examples of BGS online literature which referred to a yearly Safety and Maintenance Inspection. They pointed out that BGSs online terms and conditions stated that they offered One Safety and Maintenance inspection in every year of your agreement for Central Heating, Boiler and Controls, Gas Appliance Care and Appliance Check.  SSE said, in contrast, their terms and conditions stated We will carry out a full annual service of your boiler (subject to manufacturers recommendations) and an annual inspection of your boiler and central heating system.  They believed customers would not expect BGS to extend to an annual service without that being stated in either the literature or terms and conditions and they believed the evidence available supported that BGS offered only a maintenance and safety check and argued that no evidence existed to suggest that they offered a service.

SSE noted BGS had stated in their complaint that a full strip-down service was not always required as boilers become more modern and sophisticated and with the advent of new diagnostic technology such as the electronic portable combustion gas analyser (Flue Gas Analyser).  SSE pointed out that BS 7967-4 : 2007 stated It is not intended that a combustion gas analysis be used as a substitute for normal servicing and or maintenance carried out in accordance with the gas appliance manufacturers instructions.  It is to be regarded and used as a diagnostic tool to help in the process of carrying out these activities to ensure the safe and efficient ongoing operation of the gas appliance installation. SSE said they agreed with that statement and believed a full service should be carried out in line with the manufacturers instructions.  

2. SSE said the claim more cover than British Gas was intended to convey that they performed a full strip down service of a boiler and BGS did not; not that they covered more equipment, appliances or features of equipment.  They said they chose to offer their customers an enhanced service by completing a full strip-down service (subject to manufacturers instructions) regardless of the results of a gas flue analyser test and believed they offered the customer more cover than BGS, which did not offer that service.

Assessment

1. Not upheld

The ASA noted SSE had intended the claims to convey that they carried out a full strip down service of every customer's boiler (unless the manufacturer advised against that) when BGS did not. We noted BGS asserted that they offered a full service of a boiler as part of their "Safety & Maintenance" inspection and that that included a service as set out in the British Standards Institution (BSI) definition: regular and planned activity on an appliance to check and ensure that it was working safely and correctly. BGS also said they offered a full strip-down service of a boiler when they believed it was required but they believed a full strip-down service was not always required, especially with the advent of new diagnostic technology such as the Flue Gas Analyser. We contacted the BSI who referred to the same paragraph as SSE which stated 'It is not intended that a combustion gas analysis be used as a substitute for normal servicing and or maintenance ...". We considered therefore that the use of a Flue Gas Analyser did not negate the need for a service. We noted SSE had based the claims on BGS's terms and conditions which did not make clear that BGS offered a full strip-down service of a customer's boiler to customers. We noted, although their terms did not make it clear, BGS said they did offer a full strip-down service to some customers when they believed it was necessary.  

We considered that, although they did not refer specifically to a full strip-down service, the ads implied that SSE offered all customers a more comprehensive annual service than BGS; we considered that the ads did not imply that BGS did not offer any service of a boiler. We noted BGS offered a full strip-down service for some customers but considered that, because SSE automatically offered a full strip down service for all customers, they had substantiated that they offered all customers a more comprehensive annual service than BGS and the ads were not misleading.  

On this point, we investigated ads (a), (b) and (c) under CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation), 7.1 (Truthfulness) and 18.1 (Comparisons with identified competitors and/or their products) but did not find them in breach.

2. Not upheld

We acknowledged that BGS believed readers could understand the claim "More cover than British Gas" to mean that SSE covered more equipment, appliances or features of equipment than BGS. We considered, however, that readers were unlikely to interpret the claim in that way and were instead likely to understand it to mean that SSE offered a more comprehensive service than BGS.  We noted ad (c) also included the claim "Full comprehensive annual service of your boiler (British Gas Homecare 200 doesn't include an annual service)" which further supported this likely interpretation.

We considered that, for the reasons stated in point one, SSE had supported their claims about offering a full comprehensive service.  We therefore concluded that the claim 'more cover than British Gas' was not misleading.

On this point, we investigated ads (c) and (d) under CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation), 7.1 (Truthfulness) and 18.1 (Comparisons with identified competitors and/or their products) but did not find them in breach.

Action

No further action necessary.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)