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Five companies that deliberately targeted older, vulnerable people with nuisance calls about white goods insurance have been fined a total of £405,000 by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).
Which? has been warning about firms cold calling people about insurance for white goods and other household appliances for many years.
We reported in 2018 that firms may pretend to be affiliated with existing providers such as Domestic & General to trick people into 'renewing' their cover. Later investigations found that some of these companies appear to be working together to target older and vulnerable people.
We've received nearly 400 reports about appliance cover, often from concerned family members who discover their elderly relatives are paying hundreds or even thousands of pounds a month for worthless cover.
We continue to share these reports - over 100 different firms to date - with both the ICO and Trading Standards to help with their ongoing investigations.
The ICO announced today that it has fined five firms a total of £405,000. They made over 750,000 unwanted marketing calls, often to vulnerable people, including individuals with dementia or other underlying health conditions.
The ICO found that these companies were buying marketing data lists, specifically asking for people aged 60 and older, homeowners and with landline numbers. It says these companies were either working together or using the same marketing list to target people, resulting in some people losing thousands of pounds for white goods insurance and servicing which the companies often knew they did not need.
John Edwards, UK Information Commissioner, said: 'These are unlawful predatory marketing calls that were targeted at some of the most vulnerable members of our society and driven purely by financial gain. It is clear from the complaints we received that people felt frightened and distressed by the aggressive tactics of these companies, sometimes giving their financial details just so they could hang up the phone. This is unacceptable and truly despicable.'
'It is only right that we take tough and prompt action to punish those companies responsible using our full powers. Companies making similar nuisance calls and causing harm to people can expect a tough response from my office. I encourage anyone who is being pestered by other rogue operators, or knows a family member or friend who is, to report them to the ICO and we will step in to protect the public from these invasive calls.'
The ICO is continuing to investigate a number of other companies - in addition to the five fined today - that appear to be operating in the same way. Which? and other key stakeholders, including Action Fraud, Trading Standards, Ofcom, and TrueCall will continue to work together to tackle this issue.
Which? has some advice on stopping nuisance calls. If you know someone who is particularly vulnerable, speak to their telephone network to see what call blocking solutions may be available to support them. You can also:
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