Two Manchester financial and debt management companies have been fined a total of £150,000 for sending more than 7.5 million spam texts.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) fined both Quick Tax Claims Limited, a company focusing on PPI tax refunds; and National Debt Advice Limited, a debt counselling advice service.
Both businesses came to the attention of the ICO in May 2023, when a number of complaints were sent to the 7726 spam message reporting service.
A wider investigation revealed that Quick Tax Claims Limited had sent 7,863,547 unlawful text messages over the course of a month, resulting in 66,793 complaints – 93% of these stating there was no ‘opt out’ option.
During the investigation, the ICO found that the company had purchased personal information from third-party suppliers that did not obtain valid consent. This led to the ICO issuing Quick Tax Claims Limited with a £120,000 fine.
Similarly, the ICO’s investigation found that over a four-month period, National Debt Advice Limited had sent 129,902 spam text messages resulting in 4,033 complaints.
It transpired during the ICO’s investigation, which lasted several months due to poor cooperation from National Debt Advice Limited, that they’d also purchased personal information from third-party suppliers, including loan decline data – which meant that the text messages were sent to people who had previously been turned down for loans. They also failed to conduct appropriate consent checks, eventually resulting in the ICO fining them £30,000.
Andy Curry, ICO head of investigations, said: “Both of these companies bombarded people with spam messages, often preying on those who might be experiencing difficult financial circumstances. To then be hounded by numerous unwarranted text messages, just adds further stress to people in those situations.
“It is so important, in these types of circumstances, that companies gain consent to send direct messages. Relying on third-party claims of consent, without undertaking the most basic of checks, is far from responsible conduct by these companies, and that’s why we took action.”
