4,200 nuisance calls... a minute
A SHOCKING 4,200 cold calls and texts are made every minute, a study shows.
The nuisance calls are mostly linked to bogus personal injury and insurance claims, pensions and PPI.
Using telecoms watchdog Ofcom’s 2017 data, insurer Aviva claims they total 2.2billion calls and texts per year. Nearly one in three targeted someone 65 or older.
MPs are set to debate new laws in a Bill that would give City watchdog the Financial Conduct Authority the power to recommend that the Government imposes an outright ban on all cold calls.
Aviva’s UK claims director Rob Townend said: ‘Enough is enough. Nuisance calls are a national epidemic which must be stopped.
‘Whether it is a call chasing an injury you may or may not have sustained in an accident, or a pension scammer attempting to con unsuspecting individuals out of their hard-earned retirement savings, there is no place in our society for them.
‘Aviva is urging the Government to put a swift end to these cold calls.
‘The Financial Guidance and Claims Bill currently before Parliament is a terrific opportunity to ban these unsolicited calls once and for all.
‘If the Government is serious about protecting all members of our society, including the most vulnerable, then it should take decisive action and ban them.’
The firm said its survey of more than 2,000 consumers showed that 85 per cent supported a ban.
In 2015, the Government let anyone 55 and over – with a defined contribution pension – take all or part of their retirement savings as a lump sum.
Government estimates indicate fraudsters have conned more than £43million from pension pots since 2014.