Two PECR wreckers sent packing as ICO war rages on

The Information Commissioner’s Office has issued its second warning in as many weeks over rogue marketing practices after slapping two fines totalling £250,000 on two home improvement firms for bombarding UK consumers with millions of unlawful marketing calls.

Both companies were investigated under the Privacy & Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR), which covers telemarketing, email marketing and text marketing.

Poxell, registered in Wood Green, London, and Skean Homes, based in Bournemouth, both made unsolicited marketing calls to people registered with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) while withholding their identity.

Poxell has been found guilty of making 2.6 million calls between March and July 2022 to people who had registered with the TPS. The campaign triggered 413 complaints to the ICO and TPS.

According to Companies House, Poxell has two directors although they are both listed as Marcel Kellman of Bournemouth, Dorset, despite the firm trading out of Wood Green. There is also a “proposal to strike off” registered on the business, due to overdue accounts.

Complaints indicated that the company, which claimed to specialise in energy saving products such as double glazing as well as resin driveways, made calls to individuals with dementia and other serious illnesses. Complainants also stated they had been called repeatedly by a “very aggressive” salesperson.

The ICO’s investigation found that Poxell had purchased several telephone lines in a bid to avoid detection. The company did not engage with the investigation and continued to make unlawful marketing calls until its account was finally terminated by their communications service provider. It has been slapped with a £150,000 fine.

Skean Homes, meanwhile, instigated over 600,000 marketing calls between March and May 2022 also to people who had registered with the TPS, resulting in 31 complaints.

The company’s sole director is named as Manasa Veena Mamidi on Companies House. She lives in Bournemouth and is also a director of Skean Tech Solutions and Skean Logistics, the latter has already been dissolved.

During calls, the company also claimed to help improve energy efficiency and reduce household bills. It used various false names during the calls, such as ‘Eco Hub,’ ‘Driveway Solutions’ and Eco Driveways’.

Complaints revealed that the calls were promoting everything from loft insultation to resin driveways, and that the company sometimes claimed to be part of the local council.

Skean Homes refused to take responsibility for the unlawful marketing calls, claiming it had allowed its lead generation provider to temporarily use its caller line identities (CLIs) and that TPS checks failed due to a technical error.

The ICO’s investigation found no evidence that a third party was using the CLIs when the unsolicited calls were made. It has also been whacked with a £100,000 penalty.

ICO head of investigations Andy Curry said: “People register with the TPS for a clear reason: to stop unwanted marketing contact and protect their privacy. Both these companies have not only broken the law by failing to check the register, but also caused distress and disruption to those they bombarded with unwanted and unlawful calls.

“These fines should send a clear message that companies cannot use third parties or multiple phone numbers to avoid detection and taking responsibility for illegal calls. We will take decisive action to ensure the public are protected from nuisance marketing.”

Late last week, food delivery giant HelloFresh was hit with a £140,000 fine for sending 79 million illegal emails and 1 million spam texts over a seven-month period.

However, earlier this month, Decision Marketing revealed that the ICO’s 25-year battle against rogue marketers is still failing to silence the barrage of nuisance calls and texts, with 2023 on course to see a 60% rise in complaints to nearly 80,000 – equivalent to 220 every day of the year.

At the time, one industry source said: “The sad fact is that, despite the ICO’s wide-ranging powers, those nuisance calls, texts and emails still keep coming, with complaints back on the rise.

“PECR was overhauled back in 2018 to make directors personally liable for fines of up to £500,000, yet as far as I am aware, not a single person has been prosecuted.”