Ad description
A radio ad for a personal injury law firm featured a woman telephoning a man. She said, "Hiya, you're late. Is everything OK?" He responded, "Yeah fine, I just had a little bump in the car." The woman, sounding worried said, "What?" He replied, "I'm fine. I just need to give Secure Law a ring, but I didn't save their number on my phone. Can you find it for me?" She said, "Yeah, hang on. Are you sure you're OK?" He replied, "Yep. Fine." She said, "OK its 0808 165 5000. Give them a call and then ring me straight back." A voice-over stated, "If you've been in an accident make the second person you call Secure Law. They offer a no-win no-fee scheme, give you 100% of your claim and an upfront payment of up to £1,500. Call 0808 165 5000. Secure Law: Your claim in good hands. Eligibility conditions apply. See website for details."
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the ad was irresponsible, because it encouraged those who were not injured to make personal injury claims.
Response
KLLLP, trading as Secure Law, said they could not encourage someone to make a personal injury claim if they were not injured, because they would be censored by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority and would in all probability be put out of business, if not convicted in a Court of Law. They had to produce medical evidence from a medical expert to confirm that an accident had caused an injury. They said the ad did not encourage listeners to make an injury claim, because it did not mention injury. They also said they handled non-injury aspects of motor accident claims.
The RACC said the message alerted consumers to legal services available for claims following motor accidents. They believed it was neither socially irresponsible nor harmful to portray minor personal injury.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA considered the voice-over, "If you've been in an accident make the second person you call Secure Law" encouraged listeners in road traffic accidents to contact Secure Law to claim accident compensation. The man indicated that he was fine three times and stated he "just had a little bump in the car". Secure Law said the ad did not mention injury, but we considered that the voice-over claims relating to a no-win no-fee claim and payment of £1,500 implied that they related to personal injury, although in the context of someone who had been in a car accident but was uninjured. We also noted the RACC cleared the ad on the grounds that they thought it had made only minor references to personal injuries and was therefore not irresponsible. It was not clear on what basis the man in the ad had grounds to claim accident compensation and we considered that the implicit message encouraged listeners to make a claim irrespective of injury. We therefore concluded that the ad was irresponsible and breached the Code.
The ad breached BCAP Code rules 1.2 1.2 Advertisements must be prepared with a sense of responsibility to the audience and to society. (Social responsibility) and 4.9 4.9 Advertisements must not condone or encourage violence, crime, disorder or anti-social behaviour. (Harm and offence).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told KLLLP, trading as Secure Law, not to encourage those who were not injured to make personal injury claims.
