Cold call firm fails to pay massive fine

Company fined £160k for making

firm, HSP Gas Limited, which trades as Home Service Plan.

From spring, directors like Bonnyman rather than companies will be hit with fines of up to £500,000 to end the practice of firms going under to avoid fines – then opening up again under a new name.

The Information Commissioner’s Office ( ICO) last night insisted it was making arrangements to claw the money back from FEP.

Labour MSP and anti-cold calling campaigner James Kelly said many companies fold to avoid paying out when they’ve been caught cold calling.

“Older and more vulnerable people are particularly at risk from exploitation through nuisance calls,” he said. “We know how big the problem is – and there needs to be more done by government to stamp it out.

“Letting companies such as FEP get away without paying their fines through these loopholes must stop if we want to tackle cold calling.

“It’s time the government answered to the problem of nuisance calling and stopped letting companies get away it.”

FEP Heatcare hit the headlines last March when the ICO, which regulates such companies, fined it £ 180,000 for making more than 2.6 million automated marketing calls in the space of just three months.

ICO officers had traced the calls to FEP Heatcare even though the messages did not identify the caller.

FEP claimed the fine was “grossly disproportionate” and lodged an appeal which was heard in September last year and dismissed last month. The fine was reduced to £160,000 on technical grounds.

The final verdict was issued on THERE has been a step change in the rules around marketing calls since The Sunday Post delivered a 20,000-strong “Say No to Nuisance Calls” petition to Downing Street in 2013.

If your home number is on the Telephone Preference Service register then there is