A company which writes letters for consumers who are seeking compensation and refunds from firms accused of misselling practices has been battered for unleashing a barrage of illegal marketing calls to drum up business.
The irony of the action against AFK Letters will not be lost on many; not only has the firm itself been accused of misselling, if it had used cold mailings it would not have found itself in the dock.
However, by making calls to people registered with the Telephone Preference Service, it found itself in clear breach of the Privacy & Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR), governed by the Information Commissioner’s Office.
Between January and September 2023, AFK used data collected through its own website and a third-party telephone survey company to make 95,277 marketing calls without being able to demonstrate valid and specific consent from the people contacted.
Despite AFK claiming it could not provide evidence of consent because it deleted all customer data after three months, when challenged by the ICO, it was also unable to provide consent records for several calls made within a three-month timeframe.
One of the complainants stated: “[The caller]…claimed she had information showing I might be due a refund in relation to my solar panels as the supplier had gone bust (which isn’t true.)
“She knew my name… I explained I had not consented to receive such a call which was an intrusion and asked her to remove me from the list.”
AFK’s third-party data supplier was using consent statements which did not specifically name AFK when asking the public for consent to be called. Additionally, AFK’s own privacy policy only mentioned contact by email, and did not state that people would also receive phone calls.
According to Companies House, the firm was incorporated on June 23 2021 but is now subject to a “proposal to strike off”.
ICO interim director of enforcement and investigations Andy Curry said: “AFK made calls to those registered with the TPS, and failed to keep proper records of consent for those it was calling as well as failing to properly disclose to people what they would be consenting to.
“This is a fundamental requirement of responsible and legally compliant direct marketing.
“This fine should serve as a clear warning to and learning for other organisations: if you cannot demonstrate valid consent for people on the TPS, you should not be contacting them. If people are being asked for consent to be contacted, it should be absolutely clear what this is for.
“It is vital that other companies using direct marketing have robust systems in place to protect people’s privacy and comply with the law.”
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