Firm behind almost 100 million nuisance calls fined £400,000

A cold-calling company that made almost 100 million nuisance calls has been fined a record £400,000 by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

The ICO said Keurboom Communications was issued the penalty after more than 1,000 people complained about receiving automated calls.

Calls were made over an 18-month period and related to a wide range of subjects such as PPI compensation and road traffic accident claims.

The company was in breach of the law because it did not have the specific consent of the people it was making the automated marketing calls to.

People found it hard to complain about the calls as the Bedfordshire-registered company hid its identity, said the ICO.

"Keurboom showed scant regard for the rules," Steve Eckerlsey, head of enforcement at the ICO said.

"The unprecedented scale of its campaign and Keurboom's failure to co-operate with our investigation has resulted in the largest fine issued by the Information Commissioner for nuisance calls."

He added: "These calls have now stopped - as has Keurboom - but our work has not.

"We'll continue to track down companies that blight people's lives with nuisance calls, texts and emails."