PPI claims firm fined £80k by watchdog after sending 1.3m spam texts

A PPI claims company that sent more than 1.3 million spam texts in just over two months has been fined £80,000 by the data protection watchdog.

UKMS Money Solutions Limited (UKMS) used mobile phone numbers it had bought from list brokers to encourage people to make a claim.

However the company failed to check recipients had agreed to receive marketing text messages - something it is legally required to do.

A total of 1,442 people complained to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) and the spam text reporting service.

ICO enforcement manager Andy Curry said the firm's actions were "simply not good enough".

The ICO said it would fine another two companies later this week a combined total of £180,000 for making nuisance telephone calls.