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PPI claim firm receives record fine over 100 million nuisance calls

Paloma Kubiak
Written By:
Paloma Kubiak
Posted:
Updated:
11/05/2017

A company behind 99.5 million nuisance calls has been fined a record £400,000 by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for breaching law.

Keurboom Communications was slapped with the ICO’s highest ever fine for nuisance calls after more than 1,000 people complained between April 2015 and June 2016 about recorded, or automated, phone calls.

The nuisance calls, regarding road traffic accident claims and PPI compensation, were made over an 18-month period and some people received repeat calls, some on the same day and during unsociable hours.

Companies can only make automated marketing calls to people if they have their specific consent, but Keurboom didn’t obtain this so it was found to be in breach of the law. It also hid its identity making it harder for people to complain.

During the investigation, the ICO issued seven information notices ordering the company, which is registered in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, to provide information to the regulator. When it failed to comply, Keurboom Communications Ltd and its director, Gregory Rudd, were prosecuted and fined at Luton Magistrates’ Court in April 2016.

Following the ICO’s investigation, Keurboom Communications Ltd was placed in voluntary liquidation but the ICO said it is “committed to recovering the fine by working with the liquidator and insolvency practitioners”.

Steve Eckersley, head of enforcement at the ICO, said: “Keurboom showed scant regard for the rules, causing upset and distress to people unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end of one of its 100 million calls.

“The unprecedented scale of its campaign and Keurboom’s failure to co-operate with our investigation has resulted in the largest fine issued by the Information Commissioner for nuisance calls.”

The previous record nuisance call fine was in February 2016, when the ICO fined Prodial, a lead generation company, £350,000 for making 46 million nuisance calls.

In September 2016, the ICO fined TalkTalk £400,000 under the Data Protection Act for failing to prevent an attack on its systems.