Xhead = Call centre fined £750k for nuisance calls
Homeserve, the FTSE 250 company that styles itself as “the fifth emergency service”, has been hit with a £750 000 fine for making nuisance calls to customers, The Telegraph reports.
The penalty is the second expensive embarrassment for the business in less than six months, after it was caught misselling its insurance for emergency plumbing and electrical repairs last October.
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is investigating that scandal, which has already forced Homeserve to suspend its call centres, axe 200 jobs and spend £20 million on restructuring.
Now, Ofcom says Homeserve made 14 756 abandoned calls - where the phone rings but, as no call centre staff are available to speak, the line is silent - plus 36 000 repeat calls to homes across one day, between 1 February and 21 March last year, The Independent states.
Ofcom says its fine reflected the steps taken by Homeserve to bring itself into compliance with the rules on silent and abandoned calls, and its offer to compensate consumers.
Homeserve says the problems related to an outsourced call centre, and that it had now brought all of this work in-house. The company says it had reported the problem to Ofcom.
This marks the first time that Ofcom has used its new enforcement powers against silent and abandoned calls, which allow it to levy a fine of up to £2 million, Digital Spy reveals.
“Our rules are there to prevent consumers suffering annoyance, inconvenience or anxiety from silent or abandoned calls,” says Ofcom's consumer group director, Claudio Pollack.
“We hope today's fine will send a strong message to all companies that use call centres that they need to ensure they are fully compliant with the rules or face the consequences.”
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