The age of the accident claim cold call may finally be coming to an end thanks to strict data protection regulations, according to the latest figures.
About Our Research
A study conducted by Personal Injury Claims UK revealed a remarkable 95% drop in nuisance calls related to compensation claims reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) from 2019 to 2023.
While many cold calls are made by legitimate firms and businesses, it is also a go-to for criminal enterprises. The National Crime Agency reports that fraud is the most commonly experienced crime in the UK.
The introduction of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the tightening of nuisance call restrictions in the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) made 2018 a landmark year for the cold call clampdown.
Greater powers were given to the ICO, the UK’s independent regulator for data rights. They reported that 16 businesses were fined for “illegal and unwanted” marketing calls between October 2021 and September 2023, paying out a total of £1.45 million.
The Results
37,983 reports about accident claim cold calls were made in 2019 – 29% of all complaints made to the ICO about PECR breaches. A relatively tiny 1,898 calls were flagged in 2023.
This graph, produced by Personal Injury Claims UK, charts the rapid decline in accident claims call reports.
Live calling was the main method of unwanted contact leading to complaints in 2023, followed by automated calls, emails and texts.
The data released by the ICO shows that automated call complaints have plummeted. From 18,796 in 2019, averaging out at 51 per day, just 317 people contacted the ICO about them in the entirety of 2023. In fact, only eight complaints were recorded in February 2023.
1,337 complaints were made about live phone calls, 70% of the 2023 total. The chart below shows how complaints were divided between the four methods of contact in 2023.
A mere 2.88% of all PECR-related complaints were related to accident claim cold calls in 2023, strongly indicating that changes to data protection laws have had a lasting effect.
With the government planning to extend the cold call ban to any unsolicited phone or online contact selling financial products or services, the number of overall PECR complaints may continue to fall.
Personal Injury Claims UK has a strict ‘no cold calls’ policy and only reaches out to those who have requested contact.
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