Two more ads banned over ‘misleading’ government funding claim

The UK’s advertising watchdog has banned two more heat pump ads for misleading consumers about installation costs.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) found that ads from home heating supplier Aira and EDF Energy both failed to include information regarding the eligibility criteria for government funding available for installing the pumps.

It comes a week after the ASA banned an ad from Octopus Energy for misleading consumers by claiming heat pumps could be installed for as little as £500.

The Meta ad for Aira, seen in March, said: “Ditch your gas boiler for an Aira heat pump today … £7,500 grant available.”

Aira said the ad was only targeted at homeowners living in England and Scotland, where £7,500 Government grants were available to replace their gas boiler with a heat pump.

The firm said it did not believe that a consumer would interpret the ad to mean the grants were given automatically and without conditions.

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It added that social media ads did not allow for extensive clarification and claimed that consumers would be confused by phrasing such as ‘eligibility criteria apply’.

They said that, in practice, nearly all of their customers who replaced a gas boiler in their own home with a heat pump were eligible for a £7,500 grant.

However, the ASA said the ad gave the impression that consumers would be automatically eligible to receive a government grant of £7,500, and it did not make clear that the funding for a heat pump was subject to eligibility.

EDF’s Google ad in February said: “Get A £7,500 Grant – EDF Air Source Heat Pumps.”

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EDF said the ad linked through to one of three pages, where all relevant information about the government funding’s eligibility criteria was made clear.

Again, the ASA said the ad did not make clear that government funding for a heat pump was subject to eligibility.

The ASA said of both ads: “We considered that it was material information that should have been included. Because the ad omitted material information, we concluded it was likely to mislead.”

Last week, the ASA told Octopus to ensure that ads making price claims for heat pump installation included all material information, including clarification of any Government grant included in the advertised price and the existence of eligibility criteria.