April 11, 2016

The ICO has fined Advice Direct Ltd, trading as National Workers Office, £20,000 for nuisance calls it made to market a service that it said would help people claim damages for hearing loss caused by working in a noisy environment.

People disturbed by the calls said they had previously told the company not to call them or had registered with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS).

Andy Curry, Enforcement Manager at the ICO, said: “This company has disobeyed the rules about making marketing calls and so we have acted.  Other organisations should take note that there are laws around this type of marketing activity and they will face the consequences if they break them. 

“People told us false and misleading statements were made about records held by the company which indicated that household members had worked in a noisy environment.  Some of the callers also appeared to have given the false impression that the company was offering a government-backed scheme”.

Some individuals said they received multiple calls from Advice Direct on the same day and that some of the callers were abusive or threatening.

The company also used a dialler system to give the appearance the calls were coming from a local number.  To read the ICO’s press release in full and for a link to the Penalty Notice, click here.