This fine was for making unsolicited telemarketing calls to people who registered not to receive this type of sales call, where the firm had no evidence they had consented to receive the call or where the firm was unable to confirm what consent had been obtained on customer data purchased from third party data providers.
Mark Steward, Executive Director of Enforcement and Market Oversight at the FCA, said: ‘Cold calling customers who elected not to receive sales calls is an example of the type of cavalier behaviour claims management firms should not be engaging in. Firms need to ensure they have the right governance and due diligence in place, and we will take action when we see behaviour that threatens legitimate consumer rights and interests.’
This decision follows the transfer of regulatory responsibility for claims management companies (CMCs) to the FCA on 1 April 2019. The fine was originally imposed by the MOJ in 2018 but appealed by the firm. The appeal was struck out by the Upper Tribunal after the firm failed to file relevant documents in time.
Source: FCA
