Scottish cities top the table for nuisance calls

Ahead of the Scottish Government’s first Nuisance Calls Commission meeting next week, new research has found that Scotland’s cities have the highest rates of nuisance calls in the UK.

Which? teamed up with call blocking provider trueCall and analysed over nine million phone calls made to their customers between January 2013 and September 2016.

Glasgow came top of a table ranking 18 UK cities according to the percentage of nuisance calls that trueCall users in those locations received. Edinburgh was second and Aberdeen fourth.

The research found that in Glasgow, over half (51.5%) of all calls received on trueCall users’ landlines were classified as a nuisance, positioning the city above Edinburgh, where the figure was 47.8% and Aberdeen, where the total was 45.6%.

The analysis also found that the number of nuisance calls to trueCall customers in Scotland has increased over the last six months. They received an average of 42 nuisance calls per month between April and September this year, up from 35 per month between October 2015 and March 2016.

Calls to vulnerable trueCall users in Scotland increased even further, up an average of 11 a month (from 41 to 52), with 41% receiving over 60 nuisance calls a month.

With the Scottish Government’s Nuisance Calls Commission due to meet in Edinburgh on Wednesday 30 November, these latest findings underline the scale of the problem.

Which? is calling on the Scottish Government to use this Commission to agree and publish its promised action plan on tackling nuisance calls. The plan should put pressure on Scottish businesses to be more proactive in protecting consumers, as well as providing more help for vulnerable people, such as installing call blocking technology.

Bold action is needed in Scotland following the UK government’s recent move to make senior executives personally accountable if companies are found to breaking the law on nuisance calls. This was something more than eight in ten (82%) Scots agreed should be introduced, and was significant victory for the hundreds of thousands of people who supported Which?’s ‘Calling Time on Nuisance Calls and Texts’ campaign.

The Government is also expected to publish a consumer policy statement later this month, which will outline how it will use new powers over consumer advocacy and advice to help Scottish consumers tackle issues like nuisance calls.

Alex Neill, Which? Managing Director of Home & Legal, said:

“Nuisance calls continue to be an everyday menace for everyone in the UK and the fact that three Scottish cities are among the worst affected in the UK shows the scale of the problem for Scots.

“The Scottish Government must use this opportunity to set out clearly how they plan to address the issue. Positive steps are needed so that people in Scotland are no longer plagued by these unwanted nuisance calls and texts.”

Keith Brown, Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Fair Work & Jobs, said:

“The latest data from trueCall further highlights that citizens in Scotland are plagued by nuisance calls to an unacceptable degree.  These calls are a serious problem that can cause both emotional and financial harm, particularly to some of our most vulnerable citizens. That’s why I established the Nuisance Calls Commission, and will chair the first meeting next week. Although devolution arrangements mean the Scottish Government has limited powers to take direct action in this area, by working closely with partners from industry, regulators and consumer groups, we will develop a joint plan setting out practical solutions to the problem.”

Notes to Editors.

1.    Proportion of calls that are classified as a nuisance.

2.    Research:  The data was supplied by trueCall and is taken from information automatically supplied by some of its call blockers. The data covers a three-year period from January 2013 to September 2016 and includes details on 9,075,075 incoming calls in the UK.

With the trueCall system, users can set up a ‘block’ and ‘allow’ list. All other callers are asked to identify themselves. The caller is then announced and the user can accept or block the call. For this report, trueCall used 34 different tests to determine whether each call was actually a nuisance call. This looked at key aspects, such as whether the number was in the customer’s ‘block’ or ‘allow’ lists and if the customer had ever dialled the incoming number. Reviews of call logs have shown this approach to be highly accurate.

As part of the analysis we also compared the data gathered by 228 Scottish users with a specialist trueCall box designed for older, vulnerable people, against 390 Scottish users of the standard trueCall unit. Customers themselves define their status by the type of device they purchase.

trueCall believe that tracking calls around the clock through a monitoring device is a more reliable way of measuring nuisance calls than the paper diaries used in smaller studies, though accept that those who buy a call blocker may receive a high number of unwanted calls.

3.    trueCall: trueCall supplies devices that significantly reduce the number of nuisance calls people receive. They also have special products to protect older and vulnerable people.www.trueCall.co.uk.

4.    Which? launched it’s ‘Stop Nuisance Calls in Scotland’ campaign in December 2015 and more than 25,000 have signed the petition calling on the Scottish Government to take action. People can support our campaign here: https://campaigns.which.co.uk/nuisance-calls-scotland/

5.    Which? launched its UK wide Calling Time on Nuisance Calls and Texts campaign in 2013 and nearly half a million people have pledged their support: http://www.which.co.uk/campaigns/nuisance-calls-and-texts/

Press Release