Green insurance provider Ibuyeco, got into hot water this week when an advertising campaign was labelled misleading.
Industry regulator, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld complaints that that a TV and internet advertising campaign proclaiming that the insurance company could ‘offset 100 per cent’ of its customers’ cars carbon emissions could not be substantiated.
Parent company. BISL Ltd argued they had taken into account The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ (Defra) draft document ‘Code of Best Practise for Carbon Offset Providers’ when deciding how to satisfactorily offset car carbon emissions as well as following VCA Car Fuel Data information on individual car emission ratings. While ASA acknowledged that ibuyeco had followed a ‘generally responsible approach’ to carbon offsetting, the regulator criticized ibuyeco on the grounds that the measures taken to counter the environmental impact of consumers’ cars were not ‘robust’ enough to substantiate claims made in the advertisements. ASA has instructed the insurance company that the adverts must not appear again in their current form.
