Firm fined £250,000 over 15 million nuisance calls
APORT Talbot company has been fined a six-figure sum after making more than 15 million unwanted automated calls.
Barrington Claims Limited has been ordered to pay a £250,000 fine for the calls regarding PPI, which were made between February and May 2016.
The company moved to its office in Westlands, Port Talbot, in November 2017, having previously been based in Llanelli’s Murray Street.
One concerned recipient of the calls said: “I am currently home just post-op after a major surgery, and I am finding these calls annoying and distressing as I have to have the phone free for district nurses and they are waking me up when I need to be sleeping.”
Another added: “I have a toddler and an autistic seven-year-old.
“Unwanted phone calls on the landline wake sleeping kids up, cause anxiety and can lead to my son becoming distressed. It’s not okay.”
The law states that automated marketing calls can only be made to people who have previously given their consent to such communications. Consent must be freely given, specific and in-formed.
Complaints were made regarding the frequency and persuasive nature of the calls to the Information Commissioner’s Off-ice (ICO), which can take action against organisations that collect, use and keep personal information.
The ICO has the power to impose a monetary penalty of up to £500,000, with any penalty paid into the Treasury’s Consolidated Fund.
Andy Curry, ICO en-forcement group manager, said: “Firms cannot get away with failing to foll-ow the rules designed to protect people from the irritation and, on occasions, distress nuisance calls, emails and texts cause.
“I would urge anyone bothered by nuisance marketing to report it to us.
“Your reports help us take action against firms like those we have fined today, putting a stop to the trouble they cause.”
Nuisance calls and spam texts and emails can be reported via the ICO’s website or by calling 0303 123 1113 with as much detail as possible.