Background
This Ruling forms part of a wider piece of work on home efficiency scheme grants, identified for investigation following intelligence gathered by the ASA. See also related rulings published on 11 December 2024.
Summary of Council decision:
Two issues were investigated, both of which were Upheld.
Ad description
Two paid-for Meta ads for Gov Boiler Funding and two paid-for Meta ads for The Free Boiler Scheme:
a. The first ad for Gov Boiler Funding, published on 18 June 2024, included text that stated, “GB ATTENTION UK HOMEOWNERS: You can now claim a FREE Boiler Grant if you or someone in your household is claiming benefits! […] Check now to see if you’re entitled to this free Government-backed grant. [Tick emoji] Backed by the Government [tick emoji] 100% FREE Boiler Grant […] Funding could be withdrawn at anytime by Government so be quick and join thousands of UK residents claiming their free boiler”. The ad included an image with text that stated, “UK HOME
OWNERS FREE Boiler Grants Available” and “Claim your FREE Boiler Grant today”.
Text underneath stated, “GOVBOILERFUNDING.CO.UK Claim Your FREE Boiler Grant Apply Now!” and a button labelled “Learn More”.
b. The second ad for Gov Boiler Funding, published on 4 July 2024, included the same text as ad (a). The ad included an image with text that stated, “FREE GOV.UK BOILER GRANT AVAILABLE GET A FREE BOILER GRANT THROUGH GOV.UK”.
Text underneath stated, “Claim Your FREE Boiler Grant Apply Now” and a button labelled “Learn More”.
c. The first ad for The Free Boiler Scheme, published on 2 May 2024, included text that stated, “ATTENTION British Homeowners: You can now claim your FREE Boiler Grant if you or someone in your household is claiming Benefits. [Tick emoji] Backed by the Government [tick emoji] 100% FREE Boiler Grant […] Funding could be withdrawn at anytime by Government. Apply now to claim your FREE Boiler Grant https://thefreeboilerscheme.co.uk/”. The ad included an image that displayed the crown logo alongside text that stated, “GOV.UK” and “100% FREE Boiler Upgrade! Are you a Homeowner or Landlord in the UK?” with options labelled “Yes” and “No”.
Text underneath the ad stated, “UK Homeowners Claim Your FREE Boiler Grant Apply Now” with a button labelled “Apply now”.
d. The second ad for The Free Boiler Scheme, published on 4 June 2024, included the same text as ad (c). The ad included an image with text that stated, “FREE Boiler Grant Today With GOV.UK Find out if you can get a FREE Boiler Grant in less than 60 seconds! GET A FREE BOILER GRANT THROUGH GOV.UK”.
Text underneath stated, “UK Homeowners Claim Your FREE Boiler Grant Apply Now” with a button labelled “Apply now”.
Issue
The ASA challenged whether the ads:
- misleadingly implied that the advertisers were associated with or endorsed by the UK Government; and
- falsely implied that the marketers were acting for purposes outside its business and did not make their commercial intent clear.
Response
1. Lead Pronto Ltd t/a Gov Boiler Funding and The Free Boiler Scheme said that the free boiler scheme was legitimate. They were not endorsed by the government but the companies they worked with would receive funding from the government. Whilst Lead Pronto did not use the GOV.UK crown logo, they acknowledged that some of the adverts included a logo that looked similar to it. It included the words ‘GOV UK’, but it was not the actual government logo. Nonetheless, they recognised that they should not use that logo. Because the free boiler scheme was a government scheme, it was almost impossible not to describe it in words other than that. They accepted that they should explain that they were not the government, but did not believe that people thought they were. They included government links in the ads so that consumers could see that it was a legitimate government grant. Additionally, at no point did they say that they were the installers.
They had been running campaigns for many years in the aim of helping people find legitimate grants. They passed their leads to companies to ensure people who could qualify for funding received the right information.
They would remove any ads that used the word ‘GOV’.
2. They said that they would change the wording in their ads so that they were not seen as installers, but rather that they connected customers to an installer who could check if they qualified for the grant.They worked hard behind the scenes to ensure customers who qualified got the right service, and therefore believed that statements such as “check if you qualify” were reasonable as that is what they did.
Assessment
1. Upheld
The ASA considered that the name “Gov Boiler Funding” in ads (a) and (b), the use of “GOV.UK” in isolation in ads (b) and (d) and alongside a previous version of the crown logo used by GOV.UK in ad (c), and the references to “Backed by the Government”, as well as other references to the Government, in all of the ads would be interpreted by consumers to mean that Gov Boiler Funding and The Free Boiler Scheme were associated with or endorsed by the UK Government. We further considered that the profile logo in ads (a) and (b) resembled UK government department logos, and the presentation of ads (a) and (c), such as the fonts and graphics used, were similar to those used on UK government department websites and social media accounts, and therefore added to that impression.
We understood that at the time the ads were seen there was a government-endorsed home energy efficiency scheme available that included boiler upgrades and replacements, but that Gov Boiler Funding and The Free Boiler Scheme were not specifically associated with or endorsed by the government in any way.
Because the ads gave the impression that Gov Boiler Funding and The Free Boiler Scheme were associated with or endorsed by the UK Government, when that was not the case, we concluded that the ads were misleading.
On that point, ads (a), (b), (c) and (d) breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 (Misleading advertising), 3.7 (Substantiation) and 3.50 (Endorsements and Testimonials).
2. Upheld
The CAP Code stated that marketing communications must not falsely claim or imply that the marketer was acting for purposes outside its trade, business, craft or profession and should make clear their commercial intent if that was not obvious from the context.
We considered that consumers would understand from the ads that Gov Boiler Funding and The Free Boiler Scheme would assess consumers’ eligibility to receive a grant to get a free boiler, and, if eligible, claim the grant through them. However, we understood that the purpose of the ads was to gain interest from customers and then pass their contact details on to the suppliers that they worked with.
Because Gov Boiler Funding and The Free Boiler Scheme did not make clear that they were primarily a lead generating business that provided consumers’ contact details to boiler installers, and instead implied that they were companies offering grants for a free boiler, we concluded that they misleadingly implied they were acting for purposes outside of their profession and breached the Code.
On that point, ads (a), (b), (c) and (d) breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 2.3 (Recognition of marketing communications).
Action
The ads must not appear again in the form complained of. We told Lead Pronto Ltd t/a Gov Boiler Funding and The Free Boiler Scheme to ensure their future ads did not misleadingly imply that they were associated with or endorsed by the UK Government. We also told them not to falsely imply they were acting for purposes outside of their trade and to make clear the nature of their businesses.
