Vehicle history website motorcheck.co.uk offered a car history checking service that stated the user could ‘save 40 percent on car checks’ compared with Experian or HPI.
HPI complained that the claim couldn’t be substantiated, however the Authority ruled that it could be. A statement in the ruling read: “The ASA considered traders would interpret the ad to mean that, if they ran 20 vehicle checks per month with MotorCheck, they would make a minimum 40% saving compared with running similar checks with HPI”.
“We noted that part of the basis of Cap HPI’s complaint was the contractual requirement that HPI’s customers were not permitted to share details of the cost of HPI’s products with competitors. They therefore questioned how reliable the evidence MotorCheck relied on to support the claim was likely to be. We noted, however, that MotorCheck had been sent the pricing information direct from HPI following an anonymous enquiry. We had no reason to think that this would not be a valid reflection of the cost of HPI’s products. When drawing up the comparison, MotorCheck had taken into account the one-off joining fee charged by Cap HPI (as traders who were not currently with Cap HPI would need to pay it). They had incorporated that into the price comparison in the first month and then had listed a separate comparison for the subsequent months in which the joining fee did not need to be paid (as traders would only pay the joining fee once)”.
No further action is required.
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