An equity release ad has been banned for incorrectly implying the company was affiliated with MoneySavingExpert.com’s Martin Lewis.

The ad on MSN.com for equityreleaseplus.co.uk included the text “Martin Lewis Equity Release Calculator – Release Cash From Your Home”.

The Advertising Standards Authority challenged whether the ad misleadingly suggested that the company was associated with Martin Lewis.

However, the company did not respond to the ASA’s enquiries and the watchdog concluded that it was in breach of its code.

The ASA says: “We considered that consumers would understand that the ad was for a financial product by Martin Lewis and the lack of any other information which gave context to the claim ‘Martin Lewis Equity Release Calculator – Release Cash From Your Home’ implied that the product was linked to equityreleaseplus.co.uk, which we understood was not the case. We therefore concluded that the ad was misleading.”

The ASA says the advert must not appear again in its current form. 

The website has been warned that they must not imply their service is associated with Martin Lewis or any specific individual unless that was the case.