Context
The ICO Financial Recovery Unit (FRU) is starting proceedings to retrieve £250,000 from defunct company Pownall Marketing Limited (PML).
The company was recently fined by the ICO for making over 350,000 nuisance calls. PML came to the attention of the ICO when it began receiving complaints about nuisance marketing calls, relating to claims management services, made by the company. The ICO’s investigation found that 365,369 calls had been made between 1st January and 28th May 2019 to people who had not consented to receive them.
The law banning unsolicited calls for direct marketing purposes in relation to claims management services came into force in September 2018.
Full details of the enforcement action can be found here: https://ico.org.uk/action-weve-taken/enforcement/pownall-marketing-limited/
Key points to note
- The FRU has blocked PML’s application to strike itself off the Companies House register three times, ensuring the ICO can continue regulatory action.
- If the company fails to pay the penalty then the FRU will take appropriate action to recover the debt, which may involve petitioning for the winding up of the company and exercising the ICO’s full rights as a creditor in any insolvency.
- The FRU is responsible for the recovery of ICO monetary penalties issued under the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR).
- The ICO can take informal action, such as authorising payment plans, and more formal action including the issuing of, and petitioning for, the winding up of companies and the bankruptcy of individuals.