Fine for firm behind 146,000,000 PPI calls

ACOMPANY behind a record 146,000,000 illegal calls in just four months has been fined £350,000 by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

People said they were left feeling harassed and threatened by the automated PPI calls initiated by Carmarthenshire-based Your Money Rights Ltd.

The Ammanford firm was responsible for the most amount of automated calls to result in an ICO fine to date.

The calls also broke the rules by not including the company’s name and contact details in the recorded message.

Firms can only make automated marketing calls to people if they have their specific consent.

Your Money Rights did not have consent so was in breach of the law.

Examples of complaints the ICO received about the calls included people stating: “I feel threatened by these unsolicited and frequent nuisance calls and am concerned that if I follow one of the options I will be drawn into a scam.”

Another complainant added: “They are calling twice a day. It drives me insane. I have a very sick relative I help care for so need to answer the phone.”

Steve Eckersley, ICO head of enforcement, said: “We’re cracking down on illegal automated calls on behalf of the British public.

“They are a blight on society that disregards people’s right to have their wish for peace and quiet in their own home respected.

“We know people find calls playing recorded messages particularly intrusive because they are unable to speak to a call agent.

“Your Money Rights should have known that the law around automated calls is stricter than for other marketing calls.”

Following the ICO’s investigation, the directors of Your Money Rights Ltd, which has its registered address is Darlington, are seeking to dissolve the company.

The ICO is committed to recovering the fine and will work with insolvency practitioners and the liquidator if the company moves to insolvency.

The ICO’s powers will be further strengthened when the government introduces a new law allowing it to fine the company directors behind nuisance call firms. Making directors responsible will stop them avoiding fines by putting their company into liquidation.

Mr Eckersley said: “A change in law to make directors personally liable for illegal marketing calls can’t come soon enough.

“If a firm goes out of business to try and duck an ICO fine then they’re no longer making troublesome nuisance calls.

“But the new law will increase the tools we have to go after them and hold them fully accountable for the harassment, annoyance and disruption they’ve caused.”