ASA bans ad from PPI claims firm
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The Advertising Standards Authority has banned an advertisement from Manchester based PPI Careline, for being misleading
A text message sent on June 24 2011 stated, “URGENT! If you took out a bank loan prior to 2007 then you are almost certainly entitled to £2,300 in compensation. To claim reply YES”.
The complainant, who believed the text was misleading, challenged whether the text was sent unsolicited and exaggerated the likelihood of getting compensation.
The ASA challenged whether the text breached its code because it omitted the identity of the marketer and did not include an opt-out mechanism.
PPI Careline claimed it was provided with a small number of text leads from a company who assured it they were sent solicited, provided an opt-out mechanism, and omitted the amount of likely compensation.
It said it told the company that compliant texting was imperative but believed this request had not been adhered to. It claimed it no longer purchased text leads and had no intention to do so in future.
The ASA concluded that PPI Careline had purchased text messaging leads from a company who assured it they would be sent solicited, and would include an opt-out mechanism, and omit the amount of likely compensation.
However it considered it was the responsibility of the advertiser to ensure that its text messages complied with its code.
Furthermore, it had not received any evidence that a third party was responsible for the text message, or that PPI Careline had requested them to ensure the texts were sent to consumers who had opted to receive them, included an opt-out mechanism and omitted the amount of likely compensation.
The ASA found that because the text was sent unsolicited and did not include an opt-out mechanism, it breached the database practice rules and that the claim of £2,300 compensation could not been substantiated.
The ASA ruled that the ad must not appear again in its current form. It told PPI Careline not to send text messages unsolicited and to include an opt-out mechanism and its identity in any future text messages.
It also told it not to make claims unless they held evidence to substantiate them.
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