Cold-calling regulations confirmed 

The amendments to the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations, which also includes bans against the sending of unsolicited text and emails in relation to pensions, were approved by Parliament in December 2018.

However, there is an exception which applies to a caller who is an authorised person of an occupational or personal pension scheme and the called line is that of an individual who has previously consented to such calls.

The exception also applies if the recipient of the call has an existing client relationship with the caller on the line and the relationship is such that they might reasonably envisage receiving unsolicited calls. The recipient must also have been given a simple means of refusing the use of their contact details for the purpose of such calls.

The Information Commissioners Office (ICO) will issue guidance for industry on adhering to the pensions cold calling ban. The ICO is also producing a new statutory direct marketing code under the Data Protection Act 2018 which will be consulted on this year.