Ad description
A website, www.myclaimsexpert.co.uk, featured text in the banner at the top of the page that stated "Freephone: XXXXX XXXXXX".
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the claim that the number in the ad was "Freephone" was misleading, because they believed a charge applied.
Response
BCB Solutions Ltd t/a myclaimsexpert.co.uk did not respond to the ASA's enquiries.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA was concerned by myclaimsexpert.co.uk's lack of response and apparent disregard for the Code, which was a breach of CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 1.7 (Unreasonable delay). We reminded them of their responsibility to respond promptly to our enquiries and we told them to do so in future.
Because we had seen no evidence to demonstrate that the number in the ad could be called for free, we concluded that the claim that the number in the ad was "Freephone" was misleading. On that basis, we concluded that the ad breached the Code.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so. (Misleading advertising) and 3.7 (Substantiation).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told myclaimsexpert.co.uk not to refer to a telephone number as "Freephone" if that was not the case. We referred the matter to CAP's Compliance team.
