The OFT considered the following aspects appearing in some or all of the advertisements to be misleading:
the prominent depiction of a repayment example that was not accompanied by an indication of the duration of the repayments to be made;
the placing of a "from APR" in such close proximity to the repayment example that it gave the misleading impression that it was the APR for that example when in fact it was not; and
including the required credit advertising information in such a way that it gave the reader the misleading impression that it was not part of that credit advertisement.
The OFT took the view that the advertisements also breached the Consumer Credit (Advertisement) Regulations of 1989.
Dial4aloan promptly withdrew its advertising following the OFT's request. Following discussions with the OFT, Dial4aloan has also set out the steps it will take in future to ensure that future advertisements do not breach relevant Regulations.
John Vickers, OFT Chairman, said:
"Consumers have a right to fair and accurate credit information when considering taking out a loan. Credit providers have a legal obligation to make sure their credit advertisements are not misleading."
