Octopus Energy has had a heat pump ad banned by the UK’s advertising watchdog after the ASA ruled that its headline claim – “Installs from £500” – was misleading and lacked key information.
Octopus was also reprimanded in April for another advert which was deemed misleading.
This time the paid-for Facebook ad, seen in September 2024, promoted heat pump installations from £500 and stated: “The government grant covers up to 90% of the costs of a new heat pump”. But the ASA found that the claim didn’t stack up when scrutinised.
So what was the issue?
The ASA received two complaints – including one from the Energy and Utilities Alliance – questioning whether the £500 price could be substantiated and if the ad omitted material information.
Octopus said the price was achievable for 10% to 15% of homes based on complex modelling using energy data, EPCs and property types.
It pointed out that in the months after the ad ran, around 14% of installs were priced at £500 or less – thanks to £7,500 government funding from the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS).
However, the ASA dug into the numbers and found that only 5.8% of installs at the time of the ad had hit the £500 price point.
That’s well below what the rules require to justify a “from” price claim, which must reflect what a significant proportion of consumers can actually expect to pay.
Crucially, the ad also failed to clearly explain that the £500 figure relied on qualifying for the BUS grant – which has strict eligibility rules including homeownership and replacing fossil fuel systems.
That information only appeared later in the sign-up journey, not in the ad itself.
The verdict?
The ad was deemed ‘Misleading by omission’ and not backed up with robust enough data.
ASA ruling:
- Claim “Installs from £500” was misleading – not enough consumers could get that price at the time.
- Material information was omitted – such as the reliance on government funding and its eligibility criteria.
- The ad breached rules on substantiation, misleading advertising and pricing.
The ASA ruled the ad must not appear again in its current form. Octopus was told to only use ‘from’ price claims when supported by solid evidence and to make funding eligibility crystal clear in future ads.
Octopus Energy has responded by going on the attack, a spokesperson said:
“This shows the breathtaking hypocrisy from these fossil fuel lobbyists. They logged this complaint against us, yet their biggest member – British Gas – also claims to install heat pumps from £499.
“13.9% of all heat pumps sold by Octopus during the campaign were £500 or less, exceeding the ASA’s guideline of 10%. We’d like to see the figures for British Gas.
“Octopus will be reporting British Gas to the ASA and expects to see robust action.”
Octopus heat pump ad gets banned appeared first on Energy Live News.