ASA ruling on Estate Agency pricing display Dear Francis Analysis continues following a recent ASA ruling against an estate agent for an advert which stated 0.9% SELLING FEE in large bold text. Smaller text stated, +VAT. The complainant challenged whether the price claim was misleading because it was not inclusive of VAT. The ASA ruled that the advert must not appear again in its current form and that the agent must ensure that their price claims include non-optional taxes, duties, fees and charges which could be calculated in advance. The ASA examined whether the agent was right to use the Department for Business Innovation & Skills Pricing Practices Guide (PPG) in this way. The PPG advised that, where a fee was based on an as-yet-unknown sum of money (for example, the sale price of a house), advertisers should either quote a fee which included VAT or, if it was difficult to calculate, make it clear that, in addition to the fee, consumers would have to pay VAT at the current rate. The ASA ruling is a clear acknowledgement that the authority is watching industry practices and will rule in favour of complainants where it believes there is insufficient transparency in pricing. For full details click here. Yours Sincerely, Mark Hayward Managing Director National Association of Estate Agents
Posted on: Mon, 10 Nov 2014 11:59:18 +0000
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