ASA Adjudication on Help-Link UK Ltd

Ad

A radio ad, for a credit agreement for a boiler, stated "Why pay for monthly cover on your old gas guzzling boiler when you can get a better deal from Help-Link right now. For just £19.95 per month you'll get an energy efficient Worcester Bosch combi-boiler, 10 years cover included and possible savings of up to 40% on your heating bill, all for just £19.95 per month. That is a help. A new boiler, 10 years warranty and up to 40% savings on your heating bill for £19.95 per month. Call Help-Link on 0800 XXX XXXXX. Boiler cash price £1299. Deposit £139. Total Credit £1260, 120 payments of £19.95. Total payable £2533 typical 17.4% APR conditions apply".

Issue

One listener challenged whether the cash price featured in the ad was misleading, because he believed that in order to install the replacement boiler customers were also required to purchase a new flue and thermostat at an additional cost.

BCAP Radio Code

Response

The Radio Advertising Clearance Centre (RACC) explained that they had cleared the ad for Help-Link UK Ltd (Help-Link) after receiving a copy of Help-Link's 'Job Criteria' for the installation. They said that criteria stated "Standard flue only ... additional controls excluded - if any needed deal n/a". The RACC said they believed those were reasonable conditions and would not need to be included in the ad. They said it was clear that the installation of such equipment was not required in every, nor necessarily the majority, of cases. They said that if such additional equipment had been obligatory then they would have requested that the ad be changed to reflect that.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA noted the argument put forward by the RACC that the conditions mentioned in Help-Link's 'Job Criteria' were reasonable, and did not need to be included in the ad. We considered that all customers would be able to purchase the boiler at the advertised price of £1299 or £19.95 a month, and because we understood that was not the case for some customers we considered that the ad should have made clear that conditions applied to the advertised offer that could increase the total cost for the consumer. We therefore concluded that the ad was misleading.

The ad breached CAP (Broadcast) Radio Advertising Standards Code section 2-3 (Misleadingness).

Action

The ad should not be broadcast again in its current form. We told Help-Link to make clear that significant conditions applied to the offer in future ads.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)