“…..if so, we have £2117.14 waiting for you to collect in compensation! Text us NOW on …..”
If we all had a £1 for every text or call like this we’ve had, we wouldn’t need the £2117.14. Isn’t it strange how it’s always such a precise amount?
This is a technique known as “cold calling.”
It is a marketing ploy said by those who indulge in it aimed at those who have been injured through no fault of their own who might need to make a personal injury claim, but don’t realise they can. Actual qualified solicitors, who are strictly regulated as to how they conduct business and marketing, are banned from making such calls direct, as they can be seen as nuisance calls and a source of worry, especially for vulnerable groups such as the elderly. Many such calls and texts can be made to the same number each day, often without the phone owner’s knowing consent. Your name can be added to lists sold on to such companies when you forget to tick a box on a form requesting that you are not contacted. It is easy to miss.
So any you get are likely to have come from a relatively unregulated Claims Management Company.
The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (“APIL”) have been running a campaign called “Can The Spam” to try to persuade the Government to ban this cold-calling practice completely.
This week, an amendment to the law proposed by Labour, which would have given the Financial Conduct Authority to introduce an outright ban on such calls from Claims Management Companies, was defeated after being opposed by Conservative MP’s. The “preferred option” from the Government is that such calls could continue as long as the recipient has consented to the call. But as mentioned above, many people will not realise they have “consented”, which they wouldn’t have done had it been clearly explained to them what they were doing by ticking a box on something completely unrelated. Thus, this is unlikely to deter the calls.
APIL will continue their campaign. If you are fed up of unwanted calls, contact APIL, giving them as much information about the calls as you can. Was it an automated message, or did you speak to someone; what was the caller’s phone number or was it withheld; do you have the name of the company; were you called despite being registered with a call barring service, that sort of thing. They will pass the information on, with your consent, to the Information Commissioner’s Office. You will also need to consent to some personal details such as your phone number or address being passed on to the ICO for use in their investigations as they may contact you about your complaint.
Find out more:
Twitter: APILCanTheSpam (https://twitter.com/APILCanTheSpam)
Facebook: www.facebook.com/canthespam
Email: canthespam@apil.org.uk
Phone: 0115 943 5400