ASA bans conveyancing advert
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The Advertising Standards Authority has ruled that an online advert from yourconveyancingservices.com was misleading.
A sponsored search listing for yourconveyancingservices.com was headed “Conveyancing Fees £99” and this was challenged by Barnetts Solicitors on the grounds that there were actually other compulsory charges involved in addition to the advertised £99 fee.
Yourconveyancingservices.com argued that the claim related to the profit cost fees charged by the conveyancers in relation to the transaction, which were £99 plus VAT per transaction. It also explained that while the space in the sponsored search ad was limited on entering the website, any consumer that got a quote would then see a full breakdown of total costs.
It amended the advert to comply with the ASA’s code so that the advert then read “Legal Fees from £99 plus VAT”. But while the ASA welcomed the firm’s willingness to comply with its code, because the ad did not include VAT or state that disbursements were also payable, it concluded that the ad was misleading and should not appear in its current form.
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Readers' comments (1)
Arc Property Solicitors | 23 Sep 2010 11:14 am
Whilst the ASA are correct to clamp down on them, yourconveyancingservices are not the only firm engaging in this sort of practice. A quick Google search for 'conveyancing' returns at least 5 more ads promoting the same sort of headline rates. It is almost standard fare in this industry and is incredibly unfair on the client.
We see quite a few firms getting creative with their disbursements or adding extra charges for things like indemnity insurance, purely so they can keep the price for their legal fees down, enabling them to advertise at these misleading prices.
Hopefully the new guidelines being introduced by the Law Society will put a stop to this.
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