ICO fines firm £130,000 for pension cold calls

​The Information Commissioner’s Office has issued a fine under a law brought in to stop scammers defrauding people out of their pensions.

Swansea company CPS Advisory Ltd was fined £130,000 for making more than 100,000 unauthorised direct marketing calls to people about their pensions.

The law changed in 2019 to limit the types of individuals who can legally call people about their pensions.

They must be FCA authorised, the trustee/manager of the scheme or have an existing relationship with the caller.

If they are not, businesses and their officers can face a fine of up to £500,000 from the ICO.

During its investigation, the ICO found that between 11 January 2019 and 30 April 2019, CPS Advisory Ltd made 106,987 calls to people without lawful authority.

The ICO also uncovered the company was not a trustee or manager of a pensions scheme.

It was also not authorised by the FCA and the evidence that it provided did not satisfy the ICO that valid consent had been obtained.

ICO head of investigations Andy Curry says: “Unwanted pension calls can cause real distress and even significant financial hardship to often vulnerable people, who can end up losing their hard-earned pension pot to scammers.

“This company clearly flouted the law when they should have known better. Businesses making direct marketing calls are responsible for understanding their responsibilities under the legislation, ignorance is no excuse.”

Economic secretary to the Treasury John Glen adds: “Pensions cold calls are the most common method used to initiate pension scams, which can rob people of their hard-earned savings and ruin lives. That’s why we banned them. Today’s fine should act as a warning to others that pensions cold calling is unacceptable, and those found flouting the rules will be held to account.”

Reacting to the news, a spokesman for the Pensions Regulator says: “This £130,000 fine should be a strong deterrent to any firm thinking of flouting the law on pension cold calls.

“If you are contacted out of the blue about a pension ‘opportunity’ – that’s illegal and probably a scam. Hang up and report it to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

“Always check who you are dealing with before making any decision on your pension and get to know the warning signs of a scam by visiting the ScamSmart website.”