Fake scrappage site defies ASA ruling
– and more sites emerge
19th March 2019

The Advertising Standards Authority has alerted its compliance team to a fake window scrappage website that is still live and running weeks after it was ordered to cease making false claims of ‘over £100million of funding’ available to upgrade windows.

Meanwhile, The Glazine has handed a file to the ASA outlining at least three other fake scrappage sites, all traceable to the same company, with links to Zenith owner Clearwin Ltd.

Among these is one first highlighted last month after it was discovered using images and statistics taken without consent from Eurocell’s own online material read story.

The ASA action was against a paid-for Facebook post and two websites for ‘Ecofunding Plan’ claiming to be an energy efficient window upgrade company, and stating: “Over One Hundred Million pounds of funding is available for homeowners to upgrade their windows to brand new A+ Rated Energy Efficient Windows. Find out today if you qualify for free window funding today …”. Along with an ‘Apply Now’ button.

The ASA challenged this claim but received no substantive response The Authority upheld the complaint and said in a statement: We considered that consumers would understand the claim to mean that a significant amount of funds had been set aside and was available for consumers to apply for to upgrade their windows to A-rated energy efficient windows.

“However, we noted that there was no information provided in the ads as to where the funds were held and who controlled the funds or their allocation. Because the advertiser had not demonstrated that over one hundred million pounds of funding was available for consumers to upgrade their windows, we concluded that the claim had not been substantiated and was misleading.”

It concluded: “The ads must not appear again in their current form. We told www.ecofundingplan.co.uk and www.ecofundingplan.com not to mislead consumers by stating that they had access to funds to upgrade windows if that was not the case and to ensure they held adequate substantiation before making such claims. We referred the matter to the CAP Compliance team.”

One of the two sites has now been taken down. As of today (March 19) however, the other is still live and running. Meanwhile, it has emerged that a number of other sites, with names including Green Deal Funding, Window Scrappage Funding as well as the original Windows Scrappage Scheme, of last month’s article, are all credited in their small print to Contract Reach Digital Ltd which states it  “currently or intends to work with’ Clearwin Ltd.” This is a company whose trading names include Zenith Home Improvements, Weatherseal, Penicuik Home Improvements and St Helens Glass among other familiar names.