ASA raps Baker Coop for "misleading" mortgage broker job ad

The advert, headlined “Trainee Mortgage Adviser – No Experience Necessary – Up to £28k” mentioned that the trainee mortgage adviser would not need to be CeMap qualified as “full CeMap training will be provided by the employer.”

The complainant challenged whether the job listing was genuine because after applying for the job, he was directed to the training programme and asked to pay a fee.

The full version of the advert added that successful applicants without a CeMap qualification would be required to obtain it through their employers at a cost of £1,195.

The ASA noted that while Baker Coop had additional qualifying text to describe the job terms in more detail, it ruled that it had not provided enough evidence that this additional text was included in the website ad when it had been viewed by the complainant on October 16 2011.

The ASA added: “We noted that Baker Coop had not demonstrated that the employment position (with or without the necessary qualification) was genuine.

“Furthermore, we considered that the headline "Trainee Mortgage Adviser - No Experience Necessary - Up to £28k" alongside the additional information in the ad that was viewed by the complainant, did not make clear that the listed salary did not apply unless CeMap training had been previously obtained or that employees without it would be trained in the qualification by their future employer at their own cost.

“We therefore concluded that the ad was misleading.”