Consumer rights group Which? blames claims management companies for plaguing people with unwanted communications
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Research published by Which? suggests that seven in 10 people received unsolicited calls during the last three months. Photograph: Linda Nylind for the Guardian
The government must take immediate action to curb the spread of nuisance calls and texts, a leading consumer rights group has urged. Which? blames claims management companies for plaguing consumers with the majority of the UK's unwanted communications.
The organisation says the Information Commissioner's Office, the Ministry of Justice, Ofcom and the Office of Fair Trading must set up a joint taskforce to stem the problem, with a particular focus on the personal injury and payment protection insurance claims industry.
Research published by Which? suggests that seven in 10 people received unsolicited calls and four in ten received an unwanted text during the last three months.
The watchdog found that one in four of its members who made a claim on their car insurance were contacted by a claims management company within three months. Nearly half of these were contacted in a week, and many were bombarded by repeated calls and texts – 22% received 10 or more texts and 12% received 10 or more calls.
Currently, a number of leading insurers all take fees for referring customers to claims management companies (with customers' permission), including: the AA, Admiral, Direct Line, eSure, Lloyds TSB, Tesco and Zurich.
But from April 2013, new legislation will ban any insurer from receiving payment for passing on customers' details to a claims management company or a legal firm following a personal injury claim, although this doesn't cover non-injury claims such as car repairs.
Richard Lloyd, executive director of Which?, said: "Unwanted calls or texts are not just a nuisance, they can be intrusive and distressing. Many of us have been bombarded with spurious claims of PPI or injury compensation, and people are telling us they are totally fed up with this nuisance and want to see action.
"We want the regulators to work together to properly police and punish those responsible for unwanted calls and texts, using the existing law. If they are unwilling or unable to enforce the rules, the government should step in."
Earlier this year Ofcom monitored a six-month period in 2012 and found that 71% of people with a landline received an unwanted marketing call and 63% encountered a recorded message.
Which? says a new joint taskforce should "proactively and forensically" scrutinise the activities of claims management companies over the next 12 weeks to expose the source of the problem and punish those found breaking regulators' rules with substantial fines and suspension of licences. It also wants to see tougher regulation from the government to clean up the claims management industry.
The organisation advises consumers to never opt in to third party marketing when they take out an insurance policy and to always tell their insurer that they don't want to be contacted by a claims management firm or a legal firm.
Consumers can also register with the Telephone Preference Service (an organisation run by the Direct Marketing Association on behalf of phones regulator Ofcom), which can help cut nuisance calls by a third. If you are registered with the TPS and still receive calls, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office on . You can also forward spam texts to your mobile phone network provider
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