ASA upholds complaint over misleading mortgage broker ad

15 February 2012 | By Natalie Thomas

The ad was headlined “trainee mortgage advisor - no experience necessary - up to £28k”.

Further text stated “The trainee mortgage advisor role does not need to be CeMap qualified as full CeMap training will be provided by the employer”.

A complaint was made as to whether the job listing was genuine and therefore whether the ad was misleading, because someone had applied for the job and was sent a web link to a training programme.

Baker Coop did not specifically respond to the complaint or provide evidence to demonstrate that the listing was genuine.

It however pointed out that the full version of the ad stressed that the fee for the training programme started at £1,195 and that brokers could pay by instalment if they were successful after the interview stage.

The ASA noted that Baker Coop believed the website listing had contained additional qualifying text.

However it had not provided evidence that this additional text was included in the website ad when it had been viewed by the complainant on October 16 2011.

Furthermore, it noted that Baker Coop had not demonstrated that the employment position was genuine.

It concluded the ad should not appear again in its current form and that future ads should make clear where employees were liable for the cost of training.

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