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    • Financial promotions
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        • Case work examples

This case work example describes a case we have acted upon. It is designed to help firms understand our analysis, the issues that may lead us to contact firms and the action that may result. It does not set any kind of precedent or guide about the action we may take on similar cases in the future.

Issue

The firm's financial promotion highlighted the fact that no fees were payable on the firm's mortgages. This was further emphasised on the firm's website, which reinforced the message that no fees were payable and provided a list of nine mortgages currently available. However, two of these mortgages were subject to a product fee of around £750, of which a non-refundable amount was payable on application, with the remainder being added to the loan. A further fee was also payable upon redemption of the mortgage.

We were concerned that the advertisement was potentially unfair, unclear and misleading to consumers if some of the products advertised in the promotion were actually subject to a fee. However, we did accept the firm's assertion that these products were mistakenly included in the section of the website relating to the financial promotion.

Action taken

In response to our concerns, the firm agreed to amend its website and undertook to review its internal systems and controls to ensure that this error would not recur.

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