Budget brings mixed bag for DM

Chancellor George Osborne has pledged to cap the amount that can be charged by claims management firms – such as those still bombarding consumers to try to persuade them to claim for payment protection insurance (PPI) – in a move which, he argues, will reduce nuisance calls.
Whether the move, announced in the first Conservative Budget since 1996, will actually slash rogue calls is another matter, however.
Although PPI still generates 11% of the nuisance call complaints reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office, they have slipped from an all-time high of 50% in 2013.
In the past 12 months they have been overtaken by calls about boilers (17%), accident claims (14%) and solar panels (12%), so Osborne’s measures are unlikely to have the dramatic impact he predicts.
The ICO has already warned that the pensions reforms could be the “new PPI” and has vowed to tackle the new threat head-on.
Osborne also announced that a new living wage of £9 per hour will become compulsory from 2020. Some direct marketing industries, most notably mailing houses, call centres and field marketing, could face a huge squeeze as a result.
However, the Chancellor reckons that an 18% cut in Corporation Tax will offset the increased burden on businesses from adopting the living wage.