Home Improvement Company Fined for Unsolicited Calls

A company that provides installation services for home improvement products has been issued with a monetary penalty by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) after making thousands of unsolicited marketing calls to numbers registered with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS).

After the ICO and the TPS received complaints about unsolicited calls being made to TPS-registered numbers, the ICO contacted the company on a number of occasions, seeking information on its compliance with the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 (PECR). Following its investigation, the ICO concluded that between 1 January and 1 June 2023 the company had made more than 18,000 unsolicited marketing calls to TPS-registered numbers, contrary to Regulation 21(1)(b) of the PECR. Of the total calls made over the period, 65 per cent were to numbers that had been registered with the TPS for 28 days or longer.

The ICO considered that the contravention of the PECR, while not deliberate, was negligent. The company did not have any specific policies for ensuring it met its obligations under the PECR, and it should have been aware of the legislation that applied to telephone marketing. It knew or ought reasonably to have known that there was a risk that the contravention would occur.

The ICO imposed a monetary penalty of £40,000 under Section 55A of the Data Protection Act 1998. The penalty would be reduced to £32,000 if paid promptly.