ASA Adjudication on Lloyds TSB Bank plc

Ad

A direct mailing, for Lloyds TSB Platinum account, stated "Save on your next car with CarSelect up to 25% savings on selected new and used cars"

Issue

A customer, who opened a Platinum Account, was offered a 2% saving on the car he wanted and said he was told Lloyds TSB would not offer 25% saving on a new car. He complained that the ad was misleading.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

Lloyds TSB said the mailing had not claimed that savings of 25% could be made on all cars but had stated "up to 25% savings on selected new and used cars". They said the percentage of savings would vary depending on the particular model of car. They explained that the savings were calculated against the manufacturer's recommended on the road retail price: the CarSelect saving was set and could not be negotiated with individual customers. They said the car the complainant was interested in had a saving of 2% off the manufacturer's price, but argued that he would not have been told a 25% saving on a new car was never offered by them.

Lloyds TSB said it was possible to make a saving of 25% on selected models of new cars and provided evidence to back up the claim. They said 19% of the new cars sold through CarSelect, between January and August, had 25% or more off the manufacturers recommended on the road retail price. A further 39% had savings of between 10% and 24%. They said the savings were available on a number of different models of cars.

Assessment

Not upheld

The ASA noted that the mailing stated savings were "up to 25%" and only available on selected new and used cars. We considered that it was clear from the claim that the percentage of savings would vary depending on the car, and that the figure given had been the largest percentage saving that would be likely to be available.

Because Lloyds TSB had provided evidence that a significant number of customers were able to take advantage of savings up to and including 25% off the manufacturer's recommended price on selected cars, we concluded that the mailing was not misleading.

We investigated the ad under CAP Code clauses 3.1(Substantiation), 7.1 (Truthfulness) and 15.4 (Prices) but did not find it in breach.

Action

No further action necessary.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)