ASA Adjudication on Direct Line Loans Ltd

Ad

An SMS message sent to private individuals' mobile telephones stated "BORROW UP TO £750 INTO YOUR ACCOUNT TODAY. VISIT WWW.WEPAY2DAY.CO.UK OR TO OPT OUT TEXT '0'”.

Issue

1. A complainant, who understood that marketers required permission from recipients before sending SMS messages to them, objected that the text was sent unsolicited.

2. Another complainant, who followed the instructions in the ad to opt-out of getting further marketing messages, complained that they continued to receive SMS text messages from the advertiser.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

1. & 2.  Direct Line Loans Ltd (Direct Line Loans) said they were in the process of retrieving the information required to respond to the complaint but did not provide any further response or documentation.

Assessment

1. & 2.  Upheld

The ASA noted Direct Line Loans had not provided evidence to demonstrate that the complainant was a customer or had given permission for Direct Line Loans ads to be sent to them by SMS text message.  We also noted that they had not provided evidence to demonstrate that recipients could opt out of receiving future marketing messages. We concluded that the ad breached the Code.  

On points 1 and 2, the ad breached CAP Code clauses 43.4c and 43.9 (Database practices).

Action

The ad must not be sent to individuals except where the details of those individuals have been obtained in the course of, or in negotiations for a sale, without the explicit consent of those individuals.  Recipients must also be given a simple way to opt out of receiving further marketing material in each communication.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)