ASA Adjudication on Spencer Hayes Ltd

Ad

A national press ad, for a debt counselling and insolvency service, offered help to those with debt problems through an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA). The ad was headlined "Serious Debts Over £15,001?" and listed several features of the service.

Issue

The complainant objected that the claim "'It's So Unfair For You To Be Suffering With High Debts When So Many Others Get Up To 60-70% Of Their Debts Legally Written Off!'" was irresponsible because it trivialised debt and made it sound easy to eliminate.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

Spencer Hayes said they disagreed with the complainant's view that the claim trivialised debt. They maintained that the ad intended to calm and plicate those under the burden of stress caused by serious debts. Spencer Hayes believed the ad merely highlighted to consumers the options they had for addressing their debt problems.

Assessment

Not upheld

The ASA noted the ad promoted IVAs as a means of alleviating the burden for those with significant debt problems. We considered that readers were likely to understand the ad in the context of highlighting the benefits of following the IVA approach. We understood that an IVA involved an agreement with creditors to secure a specified level of repayment on outstanding debts. We noted creditors also agreed to write off a proportion of the debt in return for the repayment agreement. We considered that readers were unlikely to regard the ad as trivialising debt because it made clear that IVAs were intended for those with debts of over £15,000 and that only a proportion of the debt would be paid off. We considered it reasonable for an advertiser to be able to point out that an IVA could help those with serious problems and that many people had used them to address their problems. Because we considered that the claim was unlikely to be seen to trivialise debt or make it easy to eliminate, we concluded that the ad was not irresponsible.

We investigated the ad under CAP Code clause 2.2 (Responsible Advertising) but did not find it in breach.

Action

No further action necessary.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)