ICO Fines CPS Advisory Ltd £130,000 Over Pension Cold Calls

CPS Advisory Ltd. has been fined £130,000 by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for making thousands of pension cold calls between January and April 2019, after the cold-calling ban came into enforcement.

The ICO fined the company after 106,987 pension cold calls were made without legal authority from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to do so, and without CPS Advisory having consent to make the calls, according to Financial Adviser.

The ICO labelled CPS Advisory’s excessive and unlawful pension cold calls an intrusion of privacy.

On 9 Jan. 2019, a pension cold-calling ban was introduced and enforced by the ICO. The cold-calling ban included email and texts.

The ICO has the power to fine companies up to £500,000 for disturbing people with pension cold calls.

The cold-calling law say firms are only allowed to make pension calls if they are authorised by the FCA, are the trustee or manager of a pension scheme or if they have created an existing financial relationship with the pension holder. Calls about pensions that do not meet these criteria are illegal.

The cold-calling ban was created to stop nuisance calls in an effort to reduce the number of scam victims.

The ICO’s head of investigations, Andy Curry, spoke out Finacial Adviser about how pension cold calls are not only irritating but they can lead people to be scammed. 

“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,” Curry said. “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.”

The cold-calling ban, which was part of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulation (PECR), covers marketing phone calls and texts. The goal of the ban was to prevent more people from getting nuisance calls, which are a leading source of pension scams. 

According to the FCA, pension scams claimed an average of £91,000 per victim in 2018. The devastating effects of having a pension robbed can have victims wondering how they will make it through their retirement years.

Economic secretary to the Treasury John Glen noted pension cold calls are the most common way that pension scams are carried out.

The cold-calling ban tries to prevent people from losing their earned savings. Glen said the fine imposed on CPS Advisory is a cautionary reminder to other firms that pension cold calls will not be tolerated.

“Pension scammers are the lowest of the low,” Glen said. “They rob savers of their hard-earned retirement and devastate lives. We know that cold-calling is the pension scammers’ main tactic, which is why we’ve made them illegal.”

“If you receive an unwanted call from an unknown caller about your pension, get as much information you can and report it to the Information Commissioner’s Office,” he added. “I’d also urge all savers to seek independent advice if you’re thinking about making an important financial decision.”

Under the cold-calling ban, no one should be receiving pension cold calls. If you do get a cold call about your pension, obtain all the information you can about the caller and report it to the ICO’s website or call 0303 123 1113.

Help is also available through Pension Wise.

Pension Wise is a free, unbiased service that can help people navigate questions about their pensions. 

Have you received pension cold calls? Do you think more companies will be fined for not complying with the cold-calling ban? Share how you feel in the comments.

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