ICO fines Wigan-based Pinnacle Life £80,000 for “predatory” spam call campaign

7 Mar 2024 12:25 PM

Wigan-based company Pinnacle Life has been fined £80,000 by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for a year-long unlawful spam phone call campaign. 

• Company made 47,998 unsolicited calls to individuals on TPS attempting to sell life insurance
• Spam calls described as “persistent”, “aggressive” and “misleading”, including attempting to capitalise on the pandemic

The company made nearly 48,000 illegal calls between May 2021 and May 2022 to people registered on the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) to opt-out of marketing calls.

During the spam calls, the company attempted to sell life insurance products. Members of the public told the ICO that company employees would often become insulting or aggressive during these calls and continue to harass victims when they asked not to be contacted further. They would present misleading information, often suggesting they were employed by the same company with which the victims had a life insurance policy.

An investigation by the ICO found evidence to suggest attempts by the company to continue to operate under another name and not comply with orders to cease contacting individuals.

Click here for the full press release