Nuisance caller fines triple to more than £1m as new rules take effect

Illegal calls are now those deemed a ‘nuisance’, rather than a cause of ‘serious distress’ (Mark Pinder)

Fines levied by the information watchdog for nuisance calls soared to over £1m last year after a change in the law made it easier to go after annoying callers.

The total amount of penalties tripled to £1.14m during 2015 from £330,000 in the prior year, said the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which issues the fines.

New rules introduced in April lowered the threshold to issue a fine against companies making calls. The ICO now has to prove the call is merely a “nuisance” rather than causing “serious damage and distress” as was previously the case.

“Nuisance marketing calls frustrate people,” said the ICO’s enforcement manager, Andy Curry. “The law is clear around what is allowed, and we’ve been clear that we will fine companies who don’t follow the law. That will continue in 2016. We’ve got 90 ongoing investigations and a million pounds’ worth of fines in the pipeline.”

The watchdog issued £400,000-worth of fines for nuisance texts, £575,000 for nuisance phone calls, and £130,000 to one company, Pharmacy 2U, for selling customer records for marketing.

The Telegraph Media Group, publisher of The Daily Telegraph, was fined £30,000 for sending a marketing email on the day of the general election in May endorsing the Conservative Party which broke the ICO’s rules.

The number contacting the ICO with concerns fell slightly during the year, to 170,000 from 175,330. PPI claims prompted the biggest number of complaints, followed by accident claims. Call blocking, oven cleaning services and hearing injury claim calls are also on the rise, the ICO said.

Fines catching the eye included an £80,000 fine to a PPI claims firms that sent 1.3 million text messages, and a £200,000 fine to a solar panel company that made 6 million nuisance calls.