Background
Summary of Council decision:
Six issues were investigated, all of which were Upheld.
Ad description
Five paid-for search ads and a website for writeoffmydebt.com seen in July 2020:
a. The first paid-for search ad was headed “Government Created Debt Relief – Apply Free to Clear Your Debts”. Underneath, “Ad” appeared in a box followed by the website address www.writeoffmydebt.com/Government/Legislation. Text stated “One Simple Monthly Payment to Cover All Your Debts [bold text] if You Owe £5000 or More. Apply Now. Check if you Qualify. Get Professional Advice. Reduce Total Debt [bold]. 1 Low Monthly Payment. Types: Bank Loans, Pay Day Loans, Credit Cards, Cataloguess [sic], Overdrafts”.
b. In the second paid-for search ad, text at the top stated “Ad – www.writeoffmydebt.com/DebtRelief/Gov”. Larger text underneath stated “Write Off Debts & Save £1000’s – With An IVA Debt Relief Scheme”. Other text stated “Are Your Debts Causing You Problems & Worries? Get IVA Debt Relief Help Today”.
c. In the third paid-for search ad, text at the top stated “Ad – www.writeoffmydebt.com/Bankruptcy”. Larger text underneath stated “Free Bankruptcy Assessment – Write Off Unaffordable Debts”. Further text stated “Get your Free Bankruptcy Assessment If You Owe £5000 Or More. Write Off Bad Debt”.
d. In the fourth paid-for search ad, text at the top also stated “Ad – www.writeoffmydebt.com/Bankruptcy. Larger text underneath stated “Government Approved Bankruptcy – Debt Free In 12 – 60 Months”. Other text stated “Stop Debtors Chasing You, Become Debt Free & Start to Live Your Life Again. Apply Now”.
e. In the fifth paid-for search ad, text at the top stated “Ad – www.writeoffmydebt.com/ApplyNow”. Larger text underneath stated “UK Citizens Debt Help – Apply To Write Off Your Debts – writeoffmydebt.com”. Other text stated “UK Debt Legislation Designed To Help People Struggling With £5000 or More Debt. Apply Now. Check if you Qualify. Get Professional Advice. 1 Low Monthly Payment. Reduce Total Debt. Types: Bank Loans, Pay Day Loans, Credit Cards”. Boxes underneath contained the links “Fees *& Costs;” “Debt Calculator” and “View Complaints”.
f. The website www.writeoffmydebt.com contained the text “£ WRITE OFF MY DEBT”; a Trustpilot five-star review symbol and the text “Trustscore 4.9 – 938 reviews”. Other text stated “GET EXPERT ADVICE TODAY – Call Us Free [0808 number] – OPENING HOURS: MON – FRI 9AM – 8PM” and £5000 or more in DEBT? – Write Off Unaffordable Debts & Save £1000’s With A Government Legislated Debt Relief Scheme*”. A “GET STARTED” link appeared above text which stated “Safe, Secure & Confidential”.
A page headed “EXAMPLE” listed various types of debt. They included bank loans, phone bills and store cards and came to a total of £20,750. Boxes alongside stated “Your Current Monthly Payment £685 PER MONTH” and “New Current Monthly Payment £125 PER MONTH” and “% Of Debt written Off 64%”. Asterisked text underneath began “An Individual Voluntary Agreement (IVA) is subject to the customer meeting qualifying criteria and gaining creditor acceptance …” and continued with further details of what an IVA entailed. A section headed “Benefits Of An IVA” stated “Write Off Unaffordable Debts – Freeze all interest and charges – One affordable low monthly payment – No upfront costs – Protect your assets – Stop lenders contacting you”. Another section headed “IVA Qualifications” listed types of debt which could or could not be included in an IVA and criteria that applied. The Money Advice Service logo appeared underneath.
Issue
The Money and Pensions Service challenged whether:
1. the references to “Government” and “Gov” in ads (a) and (b) and “Citizens” in ad (e) suggested an association with the Government and Citizens Advice respectively and whether the position of the Money Advice Service logo in ad (f) suggested it was an endorsement;
2. ads (c) and (d), which contained the claim “Debt Free In 12 – 60 Months” and which therefore combined the discharge terms for bankruptcy (usually 12 months) with IVA (usually 60 months), misleadingly suggested they were for bankruptcy when they were in fact for IVAs; and
3. the claim “GET EXPERT ADVICE TODAY” in ad (f) was misleading, because writeoffmydebt.com was not listed by the FCA as authorised to provide debt advice or counselling.
The ASA challenged whether:
4. the Trustpilot rating in ad (f) was misleading, because it linked to a different company’s rating on Trustpilot’s website;
5. the risks and fees associated with an IVA were sufficiently prominent; and
6. it was clear that the service was not provided by the advertiser and that details were passed on to a third party.
Response
1. Fidelitas Group Ltd t/a writeoffmydebt.com (writeoffmydebt.com) said an IVA, the product being advertised, was created by the UK Government for UK citizens. They therefore considered the references to “Government”, “Gov” and “Citizens” were justified. They acknowledged that the term “Gov” had become widely used by the UK Government in their communications, such as in .gov.uk website addresses, and were willing to remove it from future ads.
Concerning the Money Advice Service logo, writeoffmydebt.com said all debt-related websites needed to make the public aware of the free and impartial money advice service set up by the Government. Their website contained a link to the Money Advice Service website and text which explained that free services could be obtained from them. They did not believe the logo suggested endorsement by the Money Advice Service.
2. Writeoffmydebt.com said they passed on leads to third parties who were either FCA-authorised or an Insolvency Practitioner, where all available options, including bankruptcy and IVAs and the timescales involved in each, would be explained to the potential customer. They said different search terms used by an enquirer could result in different phrases appearing in the ad, which is how they believed the references came to appear. They were willing to remove or amend them to comply with the Code.
3. Writeoffmydebt.com said “GET EXPERT ADVICE” appeared above the telephone number and referred to callers being directed to an FCA-authorised firm or an Insolvency Practitioner where advice would be given by a suitably experienced member of staff. They had subsequently removed the statement.
4. They said the link to the Trustpilot rating had appeared in error and had since been removed.
5. Writeoffmydebt.com said risks were detailed in a section on their website headed “Drawbacks of An IVA”. They said the fee charged to a customer when an IVA was approved varied from firm to firm. It was explained by an Insolvency Practitioner verbally and in writing to the customer before they agreed to go ahead with an IVA.
6. Writeoffmydebt.com said there was an explanation to consumers under the example table that their details would be passed on to a third party. There was also a link where they would see the names and addresses of those companies.
Assessment
1. Upheld
The ASA acknowledged that paid-for search ads were likely to use abbreviations or incomplete sentences to make the most of the space available. We considered that consumers who made a search for help with debt would be shown a range of results to choose from and that a perception that an advertiser had an association with the Government or Citizens Advice was likely to provide reassurance and encourage them to enquire further with that particular advertiser.
In the investigated ads, we considered the text “Government Created Debt Relief” in ad (a), the inclusion of “Government” or “Gov” in the website addresses in ads (a) and (b) respectively and the text “UK Citizens Debt Help” in ad (e) went beyond a statement that the form of help being offered was created by the UK Government and/or for UK citizens and suggested an association with either the Government or Citizens Advice. In ad (f), we noted that the Money Advice Service logo appeared after a list of “IVA Qualifications” and that ticks in the same green as the Money Advice Service logo were placed next to text which stated “IVA is for residents in England, Wales and Northern Ireland” and “Trust Deed for residents of Scotland”. More text stated “Free debt counselling, debt adjusting and credit information services are available from the Money Advice Service [weblink]”.
We acknowledged that writeoffmydebt.com was obliged by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to make the availability of free debt advice known to their clients by pointing them to the website for The Money Advice Service. Nevertheless, we considered the way they had done this, by appearing to link the services offered by writeoffmydebt.com with The Money Advice Service, gave the impression of an association with, or endorsement of, writeoffmydebt.com by the Money Advice Service.
On that point ads (a), (b) and (f) 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 3.50 3.50 Marketing communications must not display a trust mark, quality mark or equivalent without the necessary authorisation. Marketing communications must not claim that the marketer (or any other entity referred to), the marketing communication or the advertised product has been approved, endorsed or authorised by any public or other body if it has not or without complying with the terms of the approval, endorsement or authorisation. (Endorsements and testimonials).
2. Upheld
The references to bankruptcy in ad (c) appeared as part of the website address – www.writeoffmydebt.com/Bankruptcy and in text which stated “Free Bankruptcy Assessment … Get Your Free Bankruptcy Assessment If You Owe £5000 Or More”. Ad (d) showed the same website address followed by text which stated “Government Approved Bankruptcy – Debt Free In 12 – 60 Months”.
We considered those elements in each ad suggested writeoffmydebt.com was qualified to advise on whether bankruptcy was the most appropriate way for an enquirer to deal with debt. Because writeoffmydebt.com was not qualified to do that and could only put an enquirer forward for an IVA, we considered it was possible that an enquirer might end up going down the IVA route without considering other options that might be more appropriate for them, including bankruptcy. While we welcomed writeoffmydebt.com’s willingness to remove or amend the references to bankruptcy, because they were not qualified to make an assessment of whether bankruptcy was a suitable and appropriate option for enquirers, we concluded that the ads were misleading.
On that point ads (c) and (d) breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules
3.1
3.1
Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.
and
3.3
3.3
Marketing communications must not mislead the consumer by omitting material information. They must not mislead by hiding material information or presenting it in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner.
Material information is information that the consumer needs to make informed decisions in relation to a product. Whether the omission or presentation of material information is likely to mislead the consumer depends on the context, the medium and, if the medium of the marketing communication is constrained by time or space, the measures that the marketer takes to make that information available to the consumer by other means.
(Misleading advertising).
3. Upheld
We considered “GET EXPERT ADVICE TODAY” suggested that writeoffmydebt.com was authorised to provide debt counselling, i.e. that they would consider an individual’s situation in the context of the full range of options available for dealing with a debt and would advise on which was the most appropriate. However, writeoffmydebt.com were not themselves qualified to provide that and instead could only put someone forward for an IVA. While we welcomed writeoffmydebt’s willingness to remove the claim “GET EXPERT ADVICE TODAY”, because they were not qualified to make a recommendation from all possible options for dealing with a debt, we concluded that the ad was misleading.
On that point ad (f) breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 3.1 3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so. (Misleading advertising).
4. Upheld
We considered a favourable rating by a third party was likely to encourage consumers to make further enquiries with an advertiser. While we welcomed writeoffmydebt’s willingness to remove the Trustpilot link, because the ratings did not relate to writeoffmydebt.com, we concluded that the ad was misleading. On that point ad (f) breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 3.1 3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so. (Misleading advertising).
5. Upheld
We acknowledged that text underneath the IVA example on writeoffmydebt.com’s website stated that monthly IVA payments included fees and contained other information about acceptance and how the amount of debt written off could vary. However, that text was smaller, fainter and much less prominent than the section headed “Benefits Of An IVA”, which used bold colours, eye-catching visual devices and showed a woman smiling as she typed on a laptop. The section headed “Drawbacks Of An IVA” was on a separate page. We therefore considered that the risks and fees associated with an IVA were not sufficiently prominent, and concluded that the ad was misleading.
On that point ad (f) breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules
3.1
3.1
Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.
and
3.3
3.3
Marketing communications must not mislead the consumer by omitting material information. They must not mislead by hiding material information or presenting it in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner.
Material information is information that the consumer needs to make informed decisions in relation to a product. Whether the omission or presentation of material information is likely to mislead the consumer depends on the context, the medium and, if the medium of the marketing communication is constrained by time or space, the measures that the marketer takes to make that information available to the consumer by other means.
(Misleading advertising).
6. Upheld
We acknowledged that text underneath the IVA example stated “Upon submitting your details on this website we will pass your details to one of our approved partners as this website does not give any advice”. However, this text was small and faint in comparison with much more prominent statements which included “GET EXPERT ADVICE TODAY” and the “GET STARTED”, “Apply Now” and “Check If You Qualify” buttons. We considered that the overall impression of the ad was that writeoffmydebt.com themselves were qualified to provide debt advice and recommend a solution that best suited the enquirer’s situation, which was not the case. We therefore considered that it was not clear that the service was not provided by the advertiser and that details were passed on to a third party, and concluded that the ad was misleading.
On that point ad (f) breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 2.3 2.3 Marketing communications must not falsely claim or imply that the marketer is acting as a consumer or for purposes outside its trade, business, craft or profession; marketing communications must make clear their commercial intent, if that is not obvious from the context. (Recognition of marketing communications) and 3.1 3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so. (Misleading advertising).
Action
The ads must not appear again in the forms complained of. We told Fidelitas Group Ltd t/a writeoffmydebt.com to ensure their ads did not mislead by suggesting their service was endorsed by third parties including Government bodies; that they did not suggest they were qualified to provide debt counselling including suitability for bankruptcy; that they did not suggest review ratings given to another company related to their own; that they made the risks and fees of IVAs clear; and that they made clear that they passed on enquirers’ details to a third party and did not provide the service themselves.
