Firms advertising financial products or services must make sure their promotions are fair, clear and do not mislead you. Promotions can be:
adverts in the media (eg radio, press, television);
direct mail sent to your home;
leaflets or posters;
letters to customers;
shop window advertising;
telephone calls;
teletext;
emails; and
websites.
If we find that an advert is misleading we may do any of the following:
ask the firm to change the advert;
ask the firm to withdraw it;
ask the firm to write to customers who may have been misled and compensate them if they’ve lost money as a result;
warn the firm; or
fine the firm.
Help us raise standards
You can help by reporting adverts to us relating to most financial products and service – for example if they’re about:
stakeholder pensions;
investments such as:
bonds or gilts;
structured products;
shares/stock in a company;
units in collective investment schemes;
endowment plans;
options, futures and Contracts for Difference;
individual savings accounts (ISAs);
stakeholder and non-stakeholder investment Child Trust Funds; or
funeral plan contracts;
deposit and savings accounts;
insurance such as:
household and motor;
travel;
payment protection or critical illness;
private medical insurance; or
extended warranties (but not general insurance mediation services)
most mortgages;
home reversions;
home purchase plans (also known as Islamic mortgages);
sale-and-rent-back schemes; and
financial advice about any of the above products.
To see what might be classified as ‘unfair, unclear or misleading’ see What to look out for.
Matters concerning ‘non-technical’ elements of financial advertisement, such as taste and decency or social responsibility, are regulated by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
