West Property Consultants trading as Hugo West markets properties in the Islington, Highbury and Finsbury Park areas of London.
The Hugo West website is advertising logos of the Property Ombudsman, The National Approved Letting Scheme and Safe Agent stating it was a member of the bodies and is a fully endorsed agent of Safe. The website also features a logo which reads ‘The Sunday Times Estate Agency of the Year 2014’.
The Advertising Standards Authority received a complaint that the adverts were misleading because according to the complainant’s knowledge the Hugo West was neither a member of any of the bodies listed nor a winner of The Sunday Times award.
The ASA banned the advert after Hugo West failed to respond to its questions over the legitimacy of the claims and said it must not appear again in its current form.
In its ruling the regulator said it was concerned by the firm’s lack of response and apparent disregard for the advertising standards code. It was ruled the firm had breached the code with an unreasonable delay in responding to questions, a failure to substiatiate its claims and making misleading statements.
At the time of publication, the website was still displaying the logos.
