Millions hit by unwanted messages over claiming PPI cash

Two-thirds of British adults, equivalent to 32 million people, say they have received an unwanted phone call, text, email or letter about PPI, according to the figures from Citizens Advice Bureau.

Of these, 98 per cent did not feel that they had given their permission to be contacted in this way, and 55 per cent estimate that they were contacted more than 10 times in the past 12 months.

The organisation found people’s work, family time and household chores are being put on hold to answer calls about re-claiming PPI.

One in four people received their most recent call during a family meal, while around one in seven received the call at work, including during meetings and presentations.

Around one in eight people were contacted when they were watching a film or television, and one in 25 was doing chores such as cleaning, cooking and gardening.

Phone calls (91 per cent), automated messages to landlines (39 per cent) and texts to mobiles (35 per cent) are the most common ways in which people are contacted about PPI claims.

The new figures are from a survey of 5,682 people, carried out by Ipsos Mori between June and July.

Citizens Advice research found 56 per cent of complaints about PPI claims management stemmed from cold calls.

Gillian Guy, chief executive at Citizens Advice, is calling on financial services firms to be banned from cold calling and said it is “completely unacceptable” for PPI cold calls to disrupt family time and work meetings.

She said: “Nuisance calls aren’t just irritating, they’re often a sign that the service on offer isn’t very good or is actually a scam.”

How one man curbed cold calls: Page 6.