21 September 2023 , 07:45
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Being registered with the Telephone Preference Service stops you getting unsolicited marketing calls – in theory.
In practice, predatory businesses like Protect Your Goods, a trading name of F12 Management Ltd, ignore the law and hound anyone they like.
It has just been fined £200,000 by the Information Commissioner’s Office for making 1,346,019 illegal marketing calls to numbers registered with the TPS.
Run from Hove, East Sussex, the company has a single director, 51-year-old Anna Allen, and preyed on elderly people with sales pitches for worthless warranties for kitchen appliances.
A second company that’s also just been fined £200,000 is London-based Cover Appliance Ltd, which made 511,499 illegal calls.
Andy Curry, head of investigations at the Information Commissioner’s Office, said: “We’ve heard harrowing stories of people being hounded with these nuisance calls and feeling forced into handing over bank details for unwanted and unnecessary insurance.
"We’re working to protect people who are being deliberately targeted because they’re seen as easy pickings by unscrupulous cold callers.”
Among the victims were the Hampshire parents of Jonathan Young.
“Despite opting out of receiving marketing calls, my parents were bombarded by calls from companies selling insurance products,” he said.
“They were often left confused about who was calling them and high-pressure sales tactics led to them paying thousands of pounds for policies they didn’t need or really want.
“During one call, I believe my mother may have been coerced into making a payment using my father’s debit card while he was asleep. Companies should not be targeting elderly people and those with vulnerabilities in this way and I am grateful to the ICO for its continuing action to help prevent distress to other families.”
Action was taken against three other companies. RHAP Ltd was fined £65,000 for more than 15,000 illegal calls. It traded as Britannic Appliance Services and gave the impression on its website of having a team of expert engineers, but the pictures were stock photographs like the one above.
SGS Home Protect Ltd was fined £70,000 and House Hold Appliances 247 Ltd was made to pay £55,000.
You can register with the Telephone Preference Service for free. If you're still pestered with marketing calls you can report them to the Information Commissioner.