Direct Assist goes into liquidation after being fined £80,000 for nuisance calls

A Bolton-based personal injuries claims management company has gone into liquidation after being fined £80,000 by a government watchdog for plaguing householders with nuisance calls.

In a deluge of consumer complaints about Direct Assist – which offers access to solicitors for claims – 801 concerns were registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office and the Telephone Preference Service between January 2013 and July 2014.

Every single complaint came from individuals registered with the TPS – an opt out register from unsolicited sales or marketing calls – and who had not given permission for the company to call them.

One household reported being called 470 times by the company, while another was told by Direct Assist that they were likely to be called for three years until they made a claim, despite repeated requests for their details to be removed.

An elderly and deaf complainant said the conduct of the callers left them in fear of answering the phone that they relied on to maintain contact with family. Direct Assist continued to call despite having this information.

Following service of the final notice by the ICO on the company, and at the request of HMRC, Direct Assist has gone into liquidation and the ICO said it will register as an unsecured creditor to try to obtain the fine.

The penalty was announced just days before changes to the law come into force, making it easier for firms which plague consumers with nuisance calls and texts to be hit with much bigger fines of up to £500,000.

The law currently requires the ICO to prove a company caused “substantial damage or substantial distress” by their conduct before action can be taken. But this legal threshold has been removed through changes that will come into effect on 6 April.

Richard Lloyd, executive director of the consumer group Which?, who chaired the nuisance calls taskforce, said: “This company has driven a coach and horses through cold calling rules and it’s good the ICO has acted decisively. We want to see more fines when the rules change next week to make it easier for regulators to punish firms making these calls.

“We also want to see senior executives held personally responsible for their company’s behaviour on nuisance calls, which could include disqualifying company directors if they flout the rules.”

In last month’s budget the government pledged to spend £3.5m to explore ways to protect vulnerable people from nuisance calls, including trialling and developing call-blocking technology and funding a campaign aimed at raising consumer awareness.

The problem has become endemic in recent years, with 175,000 complaints made to the ICO in the last year alone. But over the last 12 months the ICO has only imposed fines on six companies for nuisance calls and texts, including that on Direct Assist, which was the second-highest.

Steve Eckersley, head of enforcement at the ICO said: “Direct Assist’s behaviour shows a blatant disregard for the law and the customers they tried to contact. Even though the TPS contacted them 525 times to warn them about complaints being made they continued to market their services through unsolicited phone calls.”

Direct Assist was not immediately available for comment.