Brighter Homes Solutions issued with a £50,000 fine from the ICO for nuisance calling

Cold calling gets on everyone’s nerves – no one wants to be hounded by companies trying to sell you something you don’t want.

Double glazing firm Brighter Homes Solutions has been fined £50,000 for nuisance calls to people who were registered on the Telephone Preference Service (TPS), which is a free service where you can register your details to opt out of marketing and nuisance calls.

Obviously, they shouldn’t have been cold calling them…

All organisations in the U.K. must ensure they don’t call TPS registered phone numbers without prior consent to do so. It’s illegal for a company to call you regarding a marketing or unsolicited sales call if you are registered on the TPS. If you receive a call and you are on the TPS, you are encouraged to make a complaint to the TPS to prevent further nuisance calls.

You can register online via the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) website by clicking on this link…

Brighter Homes Solutions fined

The Information Commissioners Office (ICO) found that nearly 160 individuals made complaints to the TPS and 27 individuals made complaints to the ICO against Brighter Homes Solutions. All of these individuals were registered on the TPS and should not have been receiving these nuisance calls.

Brighter Homes Solutions pleaded that they bought lists of numbers from third party suppliers and that these suppliers had ensured them that the numbers on the lists were “opted in”. However, the ICO found that the company hadn’t carried out any checks on the numbers to see if they were TPS registered. It’s claimed they made nearly 500,000 calls without undergoing any checks between January and May 2016.

The “rules are clear”

The ICO stated:

“It can be annoying enough when people receive unsolicited marketing calls, but even more so when they have already registered with the TPS.

Organisations have no excuse. The rules are clear and whether they compile marketing call lists themselves or buy them in from a supplier, it is their responsibility to check the TPS register and to make sure they are not breaking the law.”

Brighter Homes Solutions were served with the £50,000 fine on the 12^th May 2017 under the Data Protection Act (1998) and under section 21 of the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003.

The ICO has also enforced the company to improve its procedures when making marketing calls, and advised Brighter Homes Solutions to refrain from making calls to individuals who have previously asked to unsubscribe from their calling list, or individuals registered with the TPS. Failure to comply with the enforcement set out by the ICO could result in further court action.

Brighter Homes Solutions – well known nuisance callers?

A simple Google search allowed us to see the level of calls that Brighter Homes Solutions have been making.

Hundreds of individuals have complained about being called by Brighter Homes Solutions after asking to be put on to their “do not call” list and / or after registering with the TPS.

Several people also reported Brighter Homes Solutions staff becoming aggressive and rude towards individuals who expressed disinterest in their products. Some individuals have reportedly become extremely distressed and anxious due to Brighter Homes Solutions reportedly “hounding” behaviour.

This is not the way that any company should act!