LandRegistryOnline.net has been told by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) that it must not repeat its claims to be “official”.

Claims on the website, for Land Registry searches, stated “The home of official Title Documents & Property Searches … We are the leading Land Registry online search portal in the UK … Official Documents … We provide official Land Registry documents for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland”. Small print in grey text on a black background stated “Disclaimer: LandRegistryOnline.net is an independent organization not affiliated with the UK Government”.

The complainant challenged whether the website was misleading, particularly because the use of the word “official” implied it was acting on behalf of a Government department.

Land Registry Online said the word “official” appeared on their website because they supplied “Official title documents” for legal purposes that could be used in a court of law or to prove property ownership. They said they had used the word “official” to ensure consumers understood they could purchase official documents, rather than unofficial documents. They said they had not stated “official land registry”. Furthermore, they said their website stated “The home of official Title Documents & Property Searches” rather than “The home of the official land registry”.

They said they had an authorised e-business account with HM Land Registry which enabled access to all officially certified title documents. Land Registry Online pointed out that their disclaimer stated “LandRegistryOnline.net is an independent organization not affiliated with the UK Government. We are an authorised re-seller of the e-business land registry division supplying official title documents & other documents”.

However, the ASA considered the text “The home of official Title Documents & Property Searches”, displayed prominently on their home and subsequent web pages gave consumers the impression that Land Registry Online was an official portal for official title documents.

The ad watchdog noted that the website included a disclaimer. However, because that was in a small font, in grey writing on a black background and at the bottom of the home page, it considered it was insufficiently prominent to alert consumers that they were using a private company and not an official government service. Because of these factors the ASA considered the website gave consumers the impression that they would be using an official government portal for title documents and, because that was not the case, it concluded it was misleading.

The website breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 and 3.3 (Misleading advertising), 3.7 (Substantiation) and 3.50 (Endorsements and testimonials).

The ASA told Land Registry Online to ensure that they did not imply that they offered an official government service in future.