PI claims company fined £80,000 for nuisance calls

A personal injury claims management company has been issued with a hefty fine penalty by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) for making nuisance calls to members of the public.

Between January 2013 and July 2014, the ICO and the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) registered 801 concerns about Direct Assist Ltd, a company which offered access to solicitors for personal injury insurance claims.

Every complaint received came from someone who was registered with the TPS, and who had not given permission for the company to call them.

An ICO investigation discovered that the Bolton-based company had instructed its staff to deliberately use phone numbers from lists that included people on the TPS. The company also had no formal staff policies and procedures to ensure compliance with the Privacy and Electronic Communication Regulations (PECR).

One complainant, who was elderly and deaf, said the conduct of the callers left them in fear of answering the phone.

Another household reported being called 470 times by the company, while a different complainant was told by Direct Assist that they were likely to be called for three years until they made a claim, despite repeated requests for their details to be removed.

In an attempt to cover its tracks, the company claimed that the nuisance calls were being made by someone else using its name.

Steve Eckersley, head of enforcement at the ICO said: 'Direct Assist's behaviour shows a blatant disregard for the law and the customers they tried to contact. Even though the TPS contacted them 525 times to warn them about complaints being made they continued to market their services through unsolicited phone calls.'

Eckersley said the ICO penalty would send a clear message that irresponsible marketing is unacceptable.

'Companies need to think about their responsibilities, the law and the consequences if they try to break it,' he added.

Direct Assist has now gone into liquidation with the ICO intent on registering itself as an unsecured creditor to obtain the fine.

John van der Luit-Drummond is deputy editor for Solicitors Journal 
john.vanderluit@solicitorsjournal.co.uk | @JvdLD