The Department for Digital, Culture Media and Sport has launched a consultation to tackle nuisance calls and messages.
The consultation is specifically seeking views on holding individual directors to account for nuisance calls and looks to introduce a law that would impose fines of up to £500,000 on those who breach regulations.
A big problem
Margot James, minister for digital and creative industries, said while the government has introduced a number of measures to stop nuisance calling, more than 7,500 concerns were still reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) in March 2018 alone.
“This figure is uncomfortably high; we are clear that we must continue our work if we are to truly eradicate this modern-day blight on society and its pernicious effect on the most vulnerable members of our communities.
“It is for that reason that we have included in the Financial Guidance and Claims Act 2018 provisions that will further restrict marketing calls relating to claims management services, as well as those from pensions providers. It is also the reason why we are launching this consultation,” James said.
Enforcement agencies can already fine companies, but not individual directors, up to £500,000, with the ICO commissioner having dished out £5m in fines since the law was created.
Closing the loophole
Kate Smith, head of pensions at Aegon, said in the UK people are bombarded with unsolicited and unwelcome calls, text and emails both from home and abroad.
“These include pension cold-calling and attempts to part people with their hard-earned pension savings,” she said.
Making directors personally liable, rather than fining the business, would stop directors phoenixing a company so they can declare themselves bankrupt and avoid a fine, Smith says. Phoenixing is where directors of a company facing heavy penalties allow it to become insolvent and restart the same business under a different name.
Smith warned warned that people still need to be on their guard as the proposed new rules will not apply to businesses making unsolicited calls from abroad.
“As the rules are strengthened in the UK, the concern is that cold-calling businesses will move offshore so that they are beyond the reach of the UK law,” she said.
The consultation closes at midday on 21 August 2018.
Phil Gosling says:
make the telephone companies in UK responsible for stopping cold calls. Charge companies minimum of 10p per call from overseas would stop it fairly quickly – the money could be used to pay compensation to people who get cold called. At the moment BT gets paid for each cold call then has the cheek to charge its customers for trying to stop them – win win for BT.