Chichester business fined for 'predatory' marketing calls to elderly and vulnerable people

The marketing calls targeted elderly and vulnerable people, according to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) which began an investigation.

Seaview Brokers Ltd, based in Chichester, West Sussex, made 4,737 unwanted marketing calls to people registered with the TPS in June 2020.

Seaview purchased the data book from another company without reviewing evidence of consent for direct marketing or carrying out due diligence. The company has been fined £15,000 and issued with an enforcement notice.

It comes as the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) today announced fines totalling £405,000 to five companies responsible for over 750,000 unwanted marketing calls targeted at older, vulnerable people.

The ICO also issued these companies with enforcement notices that require them to immediately stop making these predatory calls.

After receiving complaints from the public and information from partner organisations, including Action Fraud, Trading Standards, the consumer group Which? and the call blocker provider trueCall, the ICO began investigating a number of companies that were calling people to sell insurance products or services for white goods and other large household appliances, such as televisions, washing machines and fridges.

Many of the complainants said the people receiving the calls were vulnerable, with some suffering with dementia or other underlying health conditions.

The ICO investigation found that these companies were deliberately targeting older people by buying marketing data lists from third parties, specifically asking for personal information about people who are aged 60 and over, homeowners and with landline numbers.

The evidence gathered suggests these companies were either working together or using the same marketing list to target these people. This resulted in some people losing thousands of pounds for white goods insurance and servicing which the companies often knew they did not need.

John Edwards, UK Information Commissioner, said: “These are unlawful predatory marketing calls that were targeted at some of the most vulnerable members of our society and driven purely by financial gain.

“It is clear from the complaints we received that people felt frightened and distressed by the aggressive tactics of these companies, sometimes giving their financial details just so they could hang up the phone. This is unacceptable and clearly exploitative. It is only right that we take tough and prompt action to punish those companies responsible using our full powers.

“Companies making similar nuisance calls and causing harm to people can expect a strong response from my office. I encourage anyone who is being pestered by other rogue operators, or knows a family member or friend who is, to report them to the ICO and we will step in to protect the public from these invasive calls.”

An ICO spokesman added: "The ICO is continuing to investigate a number of other companies – in addition to the five fined today - that appear to be operating in the same way.

"We will continue to report on our findings as we work to protect the public and maintain a level playing field that supports the legitimate UK marketing industry and identifies and tackles rogue companies that misuse people's information."