A flight delay claims firm should have made clear that clients would not receive the full amount of compensation promised, advertising watchdogs have ruled.

The Advertising Standards Authority upheld complaints from airline Loganair in response to tweets from Flight Delay Claim. The firm was told to ensure that all future ads that mention a potential compensation amount should also make clear the legal fees involved.

The posts, from January this year, referred to particular flights that had been delayed and continued ‘You maybe [sic] due €250 compensation!’ and ‘Claim €250 each!’.

Loganair challenged whether the ads were misleading because they implied compensation was guaranteed when the flights in question had been delayed due to adverse weather. The airline also suggested the ads implied that third parties could make an initial claim and pointed out they made no reference to the firm’s fees.

Manchester-based Versus Law, which trades as Flight Delay Claim, said the process and prospects of success were fully explained to customers when they registered a claim. The firm said its clients were entitled to start a claim through a legal representative regardless of an individual’s airline’s terms and conditions, and countered that tweets did not need to include fees because it was not ‘material information’.

The ASA ruled that phrases like ‘Claim Now’ and ‘Claim €250 each’, in the absence of any other information that stated that consumers may not receive compensation, implied that compensation was assured. This was found to be misleading.

The firm should also have included in its tweets that the Loganair policy was not to accept initial claims for compensation from third parties.

On the issue of fees, it was the firm’s policy to charge 25% of compensation received (35% if litigation was needed) and a further £25 administration fee if the claim was settled. Therefore consumers would never receive the full €250 advertised.

The ASA said: ‘We considered that reference to the application of a fee and the amount which would apply in the event of a successful claim was material information that consumers needed to have in order to make an informed decision about using the service, particularly because the fee would absorb a significant portion of the awarded sum.

‘While we understood that information relating to fees was made available on the advertisers’ website, it should have appeared within the ads.’

The authority told Versus Law to ensure that future marketing communications did not state or imply that passengers of flights cancelled or delayed over three hours were guaranteed compensation and to make clear that consumers could apply for compensation for Loganair delays only if they had first complained to the airline. Future ads that mention a potential compensation amount should also make clear the advertiser’s fees.