Nationwide Energy Services received a penalty of £125,000, and We Claim You Gain £100,000. Both companies are part of Save Britain Money Ltd based in Swansea.

The companies were found to be responsible for over 2,700 complaints to the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) or reports to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), between 26 May 2011 and end of December 2012.

The ICO, which issued the fines, said neither company carried out adequate checks to see whether the people they were calling had registered with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS), which is a legal requirement.

ICO director of operations, Simon Entwisle, said: “The public have told us that they are fed up with the constant bombardment of nuisance calls. While the activities of Nev [Wilshire, chief executive of Save Britain Money] and his call centre employees have provided entertainment for many, they hide a bigger problem within the cold calling industry. People have the legal right not to receive marketing calls and these companies have paid the price for failing to respect people’s wishes.”

Gillian Guy, chief executive of national charity Citizens Advice said:

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“If the Government is serious about consumer rights they need to ban cold calling for financial services. Any company fined for hounding people with nuisance calls should be obliged to give their victims compensation.

“A tough clampdown on nuisance calls would make it clear to consumers that if you are contacted out of the blue, then it is a scam or a service not to be trusted.”

In a joint statement the firms said: “Nationwide Energy Services and We Claim U Gain can confirm that the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) have issued them with monetary penalty notices for alleged breaches of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR).

“Neither NES nor WCUG accept that issuing monetary penalty notices is the appropriate course of action. Both have made the necessary representations to the ICO and will be issuing a formal appeal shortly.
While this process is ongoing it would be inappropriate for both companies to comment further. We remain committed to the best interests of our customers at all time.”