A personal injury claims company has collapsed after being fined £80,000 for plaguing households with nuisance calls ( file picture ) A personal injury claims company has collapsed after being fined £80,000 by the privacy watchdog for plaguing households with nuisance calls . Direct Assist , based in Bolton , Lancashire , told one complainant that they were likely to be called for three years until they made a claim , despite repeated requests for their details to be removed . The Information Commissioner 's Office ( ICO ) and the Telephone Preference Service ( TPS ) registered 801 concerns about the company between January 2013 and July last year . Every complaint came from someone who was registered with the TPS and who had not given permission for the company to call them , the ICO said . One elderly and deaf complainant said the callers left them in fear of answering the phone that they relied on to maintain contact with family . Direct Assist , which offered access to solicitors for claims , continued to call despite being given this information , the ICO said . The ICO found that Direct Assist instructed its staff to deliberately use phone numbers from lists that included people on the TPS , even claiming that the calls were being made by someone else using their company name . ICO head of enforcement Steve Eckersley said : 'Direct Assist 's behaviour shows a blatant disregard for the law and the customers they tried to contact . 'Even though the TPS contacted them 525 times to warn them about complaints being made they continued to market their services through unsolicited phone calls . 'This penalty sends a clear message that this type of irresponsible marketing is totally unacceptable . Companies need to think about their responsibilities , the law and the consequences if they try to break it . ' Direct Assist has now gone into liquidation and the ICO said it intended to register as an unsecured creditor in an attempt to obtain the fine . Direct Assist , based in Bolton , Lancashire , told one complainant that they were likely to be called for three years until they made a claim , despite repeated requests for their details to be removed . Which ? executive director Richard Lloyd said : 'This company has driven a coach and horses through cold calling rules and it 's good the ICO has acted decisively . 'We want to see more fines when the rules change next week to make it easier for regulators to punish firms making these calls . 'We also want to see senior executives held personally responsible for their company 's behaviour on nuisance calls , which could include disqualifying company directors if they flout the rules . ' From April 6 , the legal requirement on the ICO to prove 'substantial damage or distress ' will be removed to make it easier to impose fines .
Bolton-based Direct Assist has gone into liquidation after receiving the fine . 525 concerns registered about the company in just 18 months . Firm plagued households offering people access to solicitors for claims .