The UK's Advertising Standards Agency has upheld a complaint made against Tesco Personal Finance, a member of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, for an advertisement that promised a 50% discount for consumers who bought a home policy online.
The televised avert for Tesco home insurance offered consumers a 50% discount for buying online, for a limited period. However, this half price claim was challenged by a single viewer, who had been quoted a price of just GBP20 less during the promotional period.
Tesco Personal Finance explained that the customer’s first quote would have been subject to a 35% online discount available at that time and the second to a 50% discount. The confusion appears to have arisen as the 50% off would have applied to the full value of the first quote, i.e. before the 35% discount was applied. Therefore, in this case, the customer would only have benefited from a 15% discount.
The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) said that the advert implied that customers who enquired within the promotion period would receive a 50% discount compared to the price that would have been quoted prior to the beginning of the promotional period.
The ASA ruled that the ad breached rules relating to misleading advertising and accurate pricing, and has told Tesco Personal Finance that the ad must not be broadcast again in its current form.