Nuisance calls and insurance for household goods generate a high number of complaints to the authorities (Yui Mok/PA)
(Picture: PA Wire)An Orpington businessman has been banned from being a company director after being found responsible for organisations that made almost 77,000 unsolicited sales calls, including “ruthless” targeting of vulnerable people.
Tomus Patrick Arif became the subject of investigators from the government’s Insolvency Service when Cover Utility Team Limited entered voluntary liquidation in March 2021.
They found that he caused the company to make the calls in six months to people who had registered with the Telephone Preference Service to avoid such contact. Customers were also frequently mistreated, including being charged for policies they did not take out and for insurance covering items they did not own.
“Tomus Arif’s conduct fell well below what is expected of a director,” said Elizabeth Pigney, chief investigator for the Insolvency Service. “Not only did he ignore regulations put in place to guard against unsolicited calls but he ruthlessly targeted elderly and vulnerable people to purchase insurance often which they didn’t need.”
Arif had previously been fined £160,000 by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) after complaints about Cover Utility Team and another linked company, Digital Team UK Limited. He also failed to pay a fee and register with the ICO as a data controller of personal information, breaching data protection rules.
Kwasi Kwarteng, the Secretary of State for business, issued the 7-year ban which prevents Arif from serving as a company director without court permission. Arif did not dispute that he allowed Cover Utility Team to breach rules covering privacy, electronic communications and data protection.
The Standard tried to contact Arif via the publicly available information listed for Cover Utility Team on its Companies House filing, leaving an invitation for him to comment. At publication time, no response has been received.
The case was brought after an investigation into insurance sales covering household goods such as washing machines and fridges, which generate a high number of complaints.
