Financial services firm dials up huge fine for millions of nuisance calls
A company that made 8.7 million nuisance calls has been fined £300,000 by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
Holmes Financial Solutions, based in Speke, Liverpool, made the automated marketing calls between 22 October 2015 and 27 July 2016.
The 8,792,907 calls contained recorded messages, primarily promoting PPI compensation claims, but the company did not have the recipients’ consent for sending direct marketing, which is against the law, the ICO said.
The ICO said the company also broke the law by failing to identify the organisation making the calls, while it used so-called ‘added value’ numbers that generate revenue when an individual calls the number, which is then apportioned and passed to associated companies and the network carrier.
The ICO received 62 complaints from the public about Holmes Financial Solutions.
ICO head of enforcement, Steve Eckersley, said: “The company paid no heed to laws on telephone marketing and showed no concern for the distress they were causing people, by making huge volumes of invasive calls.
“The ICO will not tolerate companies who blatantly disregard the law and Holmes Financial Solutions Ltd has paid the price for their negligence.”
“I welcome the Government’s plans to introduce personal liability for directors who think they are above the law, and hope to see them introduced as soon as possible, to support our work to stop such rogue traders operating.”
