ASA Adjudication on HomeRight Ltd

Ad

A circular, for home improvements, stated "Home Right have been recognised as leaders in the field of home improvements for 20 years. In that period we have successfully undertaken thousands of contracts to the complete satisfaction of customers ...".

Issue

The complainant, who had used the service, challenged whether the company had been "in the field of home improvements" for 20 years, as she believed they may not have been in business for that length of time.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

HomeRight Ltd (HomeRight) responded to us by telephone and said they did not have any evidence they had been trading for 20 years.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA was concerned that HomeRight had made the claim without holding substantiation and concluded that the ad was misleading.

The circular breached CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation), 7.1 (Truthfulness), and 19.1(Comparisons).

Action

The claim should not appear again. We told HomeRight to hold evidence to support those claims that were capable of objective substantiation in future.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)