• People left scared to answer their own phones
• Director showed blatant disregard for the law
• Companies used robo calls to deceive vulnerable victims 

Two home improvement companies have been fined a total of £370,000 for making hundreds of thousands of unlawful marketing calls to people who had asked not to be contacted. 

Thermotech Wall and Loft Surveys Ltd (TWLS) has been fined £240,000 and Jacksons Marketing Ltd (JML) has been fined £130,000 by us following investigations into calls about loft insulation, home surveys and government grants.

Alongside the fines, both companies were also issued with enforcement notices ordering them to stop making marketing calls without consent. 

The same person, Thomas Vickrage, from Bournemouth, was a director of TWLS and suspected of directing the activities of JML. 

Both companies were registered in England — JML in Hampshire and TWLS in London — and used call centres in Bournemouth and overseas to carry out their operations.

 Thermotech Wall and Loft Surveys Ltd

Over a six-month period, TWLS made 575,000 calls to numbers registered with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS), often using so-called Avatar 'robo-call' software operated through overseas call centres. This is a technology which gave the call recipients the impression they were talking to a person from the UK - but were in fact scripted lines recorded by voice actors and played by call centre agents. Complainants described receiving multiple calls every day, even after explicitly asking for them to stop, with callers identifying themselves as being from a "community protection project." 

Among the complaints we received were messages from people left distressed and frightened by the volume and nature of the calls: 

"I am a vulnerable pensioner… please stop." 

"Calls scare me." 

“This caller is relentless. Calling multiple times a day and changing last four digits every time I block their number. It needs to be stopped ASAP."

"They were an insulation company. These people keep calling on my landline phone. The calls scare me, I don't like them. I am a disabled older woman and I do not like these calls."

Our investigation also uncovered WhatsApp messages between Thomas Vickrage and an overseas call centre in which he encouraged agents to dial numbers registered with the TPS. The messages also revealed plans to set up a phoenix company to continue operations if complaints were received:

"Yeah but new company no complaints."

"You mean use TPS data until we get pinged and then close and repeat?"…

"Haha it's a good way to keep the money rolling for everyone."

Jacksons Marketing Ltd

Over an 11-month period, JML made more than 230,000 calls to TPS-registered numbers. The calls related to loft insulation, surveys and government grants. Recipients reported that callers suggested their existing insulation could be hazardous to health and dangerous, and that their personal details had been provided by the government - both of which were false. 

Complaints we received said: 

"Fear mongering about downgraded and dangerous fibreglass insulation that the government has downgraded from an energy point of view and is hazardous to my health."

"Said we could get a government grant to insulate our home. He would send a surveyor around to see how much heat loss we had and would give us a discount on any work that needed carrying out."

"Claimed the government had given them the details but could not find evidence of any government scheme that involves the loft insulation."

Mr Curry said:

The rules on marketing calls

Organisations making live marketing calls must not call numbers registered with the TPS unless they have the person's prior consent to do so. Businesses making automated calls face even stricter rules - consent must be freely given, specific and informed, and given directly to the caller. 

Organisations should follow our Direct Marketing Guidance and use the Direct Marketing Advice Generator to make sure they are complying with the law. 

Protecting yourself from nuisance calls

To stop unwanted marketing calls, you can: 

• register your landline or mobile number with the TPS free of charge - this tells organisations you do not want to receive marketing calls;
• report nuisance calls you continue to receive to us using our online reporting tool;
• refer complaints about fraud or scams to Action Fraud or Police Scotland, complaints about a business's practices to Trading Standards through Citizens Advice, and complaints about silent or abandoned calls to Ofcom.

There's more advice about how to protect yourself from nuisance calls on our website.