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From The Times.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/n...nute-knccf609k
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/n...nute-knccf609k
4,200 nuisance sales calls and texts received every minute
Britons were bombarded with 2.2 billion nuisance phone calls and texts last year, the equivalent of 4,200 calls and messages every minute, according to research.
The cold-calling related to pensions, payment protection insurance (PPI) or other insurance products and more than six million of these calls and text messages were made daily.
Companies specialising in injury claims for accidents or holiday sickness claims made 895 million nuisance calls and texts.
Consumers aged over 65 received more unsolicited calls than any other age group and 30 per cent of this group said that they had been targeted, the study commissioned by the insurance company Aviva found.
MPs are to debate the Financial Guidance and Claims Bill, which proposes the creation of a single financial guidance body. According to the latest draft of the new legislation, the body would consider the impact of cold-calling on consumers and recommend a ban to the secretary of state, who would have the power to implement it.
Aviva said it was calling for a ban on the practice when it related to a pension, PPI, insurance claim or similar issue where there was no established relationship with the customer. The public appeared to agree: 85 per cent of people questioned by the company supported abolishing nuisance calls.
Rob Townend, UK claims director at Aviva, 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.”
A study in 2016 by the consumer group Which? found that British households were pestered by coldcallers up to 60 times a month.
In April 2015 the government introduced new pension freedoms allowing anyone aged 55 and over with a defined contribution pension to take all or part of their retirement savings as a lump sum. Since then pensions-related nuisance calls are estimated to have increased by about 2.7 million.
Last May the marketing company Keurboom Communications was fined a record £400,000 for making almost 100 million nuisance calls. The company, based in Luton, was penalised by the Information Commissioner’s Office for making the automated calls, usually about road traffic accidents or PPI claims.
It made 91.5 million calls in just under a year from April 2015 to March 2016, some repeatedly to the same person throughout the day and others at unsocial hours.
The previous record for a fine issued over nuisance calls was in February 2016 when Prodial, a Brighton-based company, was fined £350,000.
Aviva recommends that anyone concerned about the intrusion and threat posed by cold-callers register with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS), which allows consumers to opt out of unsolicited sales and marketing calls for no charge.
The research found that older people were more likely to be registered with the TPS: only 16 per cent of 16-24 year olds but 53 per cent of those over 55 were registered.
An app was launched last summer called TPS Protect to help mobile phone users. It allows people to screen calls and report any suspicious number. It is dependent on gathering ratings and information provided by users. Every time a scam or nuisance call is blocked or reported in the app a “trust score” is generated that helps others to decide whether to take a call.
Britons were bombarded with 2.2 billion nuisance phone calls and texts last year, the equivalent of 4,200 calls and messages every minute, according to research.
The cold-calling related to pensions, payment protection insurance (PPI) or other insurance products and more than six million of these calls and text messages were made daily.
Companies specialising in injury claims for accidents or holiday sickness claims made 895 million nuisance calls and texts.
Consumers aged over 65 received more unsolicited calls than any other age group and 30 per cent of this group said that they had been targeted, the study commissioned by the insurance company Aviva found.
MPs are to debate the Financial Guidance and Claims Bill, which proposes the creation of a single financial guidance body. According to the latest draft of the new legislation, the body would consider the impact of cold-calling on consumers and recommend a ban to the secretary of state, who would have the power to implement it.
Aviva said it was calling for a ban on the practice when it related to a pension, PPI, insurance claim or similar issue where there was no established relationship with the customer. The public appeared to agree: 85 per cent of people questioned by the company supported abolishing nuisance calls.
Rob Townend, UK claims director at Aviva, 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.”
A study in 2016 by the consumer group Which? found that British households were pestered by coldcallers up to 60 times a month.
In April 2015 the government introduced new pension freedoms allowing anyone aged 55 and over with a defined contribution pension to take all or part of their retirement savings as a lump sum. Since then pensions-related nuisance calls are estimated to have increased by about 2.7 million.
Last May the marketing company Keurboom Communications was fined a record £400,000 for making almost 100 million nuisance calls. The company, based in Luton, was penalised by the Information Commissioner’s Office for making the automated calls, usually about road traffic accidents or PPI claims.
It made 91.5 million calls in just under a year from April 2015 to March 2016, some repeatedly to the same person throughout the day and others at unsocial hours.
The previous record for a fine issued over nuisance calls was in February 2016 when Prodial, a Brighton-based company, was fined £350,000.
Aviva recommends that anyone concerned about the intrusion and threat posed by cold-callers register with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS), which allows consumers to opt out of unsolicited sales and marketing calls for no charge.
The research found that older people were more likely to be registered with the TPS: only 16 per cent of 16-24 year olds but 53 per cent of those over 55 were registered.
An app was launched last summer called TPS Protect to help mobile phone users. It allows people to screen calls and report any suspicious number. It is dependent on gathering ratings and information provided by users. Every time a scam or nuisance call is blocked or reported in the app a “trust score” is generated that helps others to decide whether to take a call.
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