New Government plans to batter rogue marketers harder might prove a damp squib due to the age-old issue of recovering fines but the Insolvency Service has sent out a fresh warning over the consequences of failing to pay by hitting another company director with a lengthy ban.
Darren Robson, the former boss of Valca Vehicle and Life Cover Agency, is the latest to enter the hall of shame, after being hit with a six-year disqualification, meaning he will be unable to act as a director or become involved in the promotion and formation of a company until June 2028.
He joins a list of nearly 20 company directors who have banned by the Insolvency Service for a total of over 100 years for non-payment of Information Commissioner’s Office fines.
But it is the swiftness of the action which could prove decisive.
The case only dates back to March last year, when the Manchester company was fined £80,000 for sending 95,000 text messages during the pandemic, from June to July 2020.
The messages referenced the pandemic and were designed to exploit individuals whose finances have been adversely affected. This, in the ICO’s view, was a clear attempt to capitalise on, and profiteer from, the health crisis.
The texts read: “Affected by Covid? Struggling with finances? lost job /furloughed? Were here to help! Gvnmnt backed support see if you qualify http://www.debtquity.org”
At the time, ICO head of investigations Andy Curry said: “Not only was the company breaking the law by sending unwanted marketing messages, they were trying to take advantage of people who may be financially vulnerable due to the health crisis.
“We have issued a number of fines recently to companies that have used the pandemic as a way of making money. Businesses that think they can exploit the pandemic in this way should think again. We can fine you and take action to recover that fine where necessary.”
In a statement on the disqualification, the ICO said: “There will always be those who will try to walk away from fines, but we’re doing all we can to ensure they pay, as well as limiting the risks of further breaches of the law.
“Encouragingly, directors in genuine financial hardship are becoming increasingly aware of our robust strategy and are working with us to pay fines rather than shutting down their business through liquidation.”
Under the Data Reform Bill, fines for breaches of the Privacy & Electronic Marketing Communications Regulations (PECR) will be increased to a maximum of £17.5m or 4% of a company’s global turnover, whichever is greater.
To be fair, the ICO has never seemed to have had too much difficulty dishing out penalties; the problem has always lied in getting miscreants to cough up.
To combat this, PECR was overhauled in 2018 to make directors personally liable for fines of up to £500,000 yet there has not been a single case to date.
And in reality there has been tough legislation in place for years yet the problem is worse than ever, with Ofcom estimating that 44.6 million UK consumers received scam calls and text messages during just three months last summer, with many blaming overseas companies.
Whether the Bill will finally require telecoms providers to be on the front line of the battle and cut off nuisance calls at source remains to be seen; otherwise the war is unlikely to be won any time soon.
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