The Information Commissioner’s Office has been inundated with complaints about unsolicited marketing activity for motor finance compensation claims, with 100,000 people contacting the regulator each day, totalling 6 million since January 2026.
The move comes just days after the Financial Conduct Authority said it was launching a major review of the claims management market, and weeks after the UK’s top regulators joined forces to launch a new taskforce to fight the issue.
The initiatives have been triggered by concerns that the fight for compensation could turn into a repeat of the “feeding frenzy” triggered by the PPI compensation scandal, which at its height saw nearly 70% of British adults being targeted by unwanted calls, texts, emails and direct mail.
The move has seen the FCA, the ICO, the Advertising Standards Authority and the Solicitors Regulation Authority agree to join up their efforts to police claims management companies, law firms, and rogue businesses.
The ICO said it already has a number of investigations open in relation to the matter.
In April, the FCA launched its industry-wide scheme to compensate millions of people who were treated unfairly when they took out motor finance to buy a new or secondhand vehicle.
At the time, the watchdog said the scheme “will put £7.5bn back into people’s pockets” and result in a likely total bill for lenders of £9.1bn. It said millions of claims would be paid up later this year and the vast majority settled by the end of 2027.
And while the payouts dwarf the PPI compensation, which totalled over £36bn, the regulators have agreed to step up efforts to share intelligence and take co-ordinated and targeted actions using the full extent of their powers to mitigate harm to consumers.
They insist they will take swift action to tackle issues with unsolicited and misleading advertising, meritless claims, multiple representation, and unfair exit fees.
The ICO has fined dozens of companies over the years for illegal marketing related to PPI claims, particularly during the peak of the scandal between 2015 and 2018. Several companies were fined for massive campaigns, such as Your Money Rights (£350,000 for 146 million calls) and Miss-sold Products UK (£350,000 for 75 million calls).
By 2020, the claims management sector had received over £3.2m in fines, largely for nuisance calls related to PPI. However, many companies, such as Keurboom Communications, folded or entered voluntary liquidation to avoid paying the fines.
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