New crackdown on cold-callers
October 2016

The Government is to get even tougher on nuisance cold callers by making company directors personally responsible for fines of up to £500,000 each to stop them ducking out by liquidating their companies.

Companies, many of them window businesses and often masquerading as official energy saving bodies, have always risked hefty fines for cold-calling homes and businesses that are registered with the Telephone Preference Service, but up to now many have phoenixed their businesses to avoid paying. From next spring, the revised law will not only close the loophole by putting directors themselves in the dock but also make the maximum fine much bigger.

The latest crackdown follows the news last April (read here) that nuisance cold-callers would be forced to show their correct phone number of caller ID.

Matt Hancock MP, Minister of State for Digital and Culture said this week: “Nuisance callers are a blight on society. We have been clear that we will not stand for this continued harassment, and this latest amendment to the law will strike another blow to those businesses and company bosses responsible.

Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham added: “The people running nuisance call companies have little regard for the anxiety and upset they cause all in the name of turning a fast profit.

“We’re quick to fine the companies responsible, but we’ve been speaking to the government about going further than that because we must do all we can to help protect people from these calls. Making directors responsible will stop them ducking away from fines by putting their company into liquidation. It will stop them leaving by the back door as the regulator comes through the front door.”

More than 114,000 nuisance calls and texts were reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office this year alone and the body has fined firms responsible for more than 70 million calls and nearly eight million spam text messages.