Only 2% of nuisance calls reported

Which? has discovered that roughly a quarter of people do not know how to report nuisance calls and who to report them to.

Since December 2014, when the Which? Taskforce published its report into nuisance calls, only 2% of people reported such calls to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO).

The announcement spurred a flurry of coverage on the BBC and other outlets.

The ICO build cases against companies through consumer complaints. When telemarketers break the law by calling those listed on the Telephone Preference Service (TPS). Without these complaints the ICO would find it hard to build a case against offenders.

Similarly, the TPS hands complaints information on to the ICO for enforcement action. Both rely on consumers reporting unwanted nuisance calls.

Which? has shown that the public are largely unaware of this system, and it is imperative that this situation is rectified. Consumers must be able to easily report unwanted calls.

I suspect that meagre rate for reporting nuisance calls is because for some people, a nuisance call is annoying but it is not bad enough to move them to take action.

However, for many consumers this is not the case and nuisance calls can be distressing, particularly for vulnerable consumers, such as those with Alzheimer. [add something on our vulnerable persons guide and link it].

It is vital report nuisance calls to the ICO, so they have the data to build a case against companies breaking the rules and stop them from doing so.