Cold callers tricked my father-in-law into paying 1,000 a month to insure his fridge – Mirror Online

Vulnerable people are losing tens of thousands of pounds a year to cold callers who targeting them with potentially fraudulent insurance.

Some victims have been tricked into paying more than 1,000 a month to insure kitchen appliances such as fridges and ovens.

In a report, consumer group Which? said it received more than 150 complaints about potentially fraudulent insurance policies in the year to July.

It said many of these related to appliance cover for washing machines and other white goods.

Of the 62 companies that were reported, only two were regulated - despite this being a legal requirement.

Many described what they were selling as "service plans", although some referred to it as insurance over the phone.

In one case, a woman found that her father-in-law - who had recently passed away - had been paying 28 direct debits for appliance cover.

His bills equated to more than 1,000 a month.

Have you been targeted by cold callers? Get in touch: emma.munbodh@mirror.co.uk

He had four policies with one firm. One of these was for 516 to cover a fridge-freezer from March 2018 to 2021, yet he was also paying another firm, Protect Your Bubble Ltd, to cover the same appliance over part of the same period.

The company is unrelated to the insurer Protect Your Bubble, which is part of Assurant Direct Ltd, a regulated firm.

The Financial Conduct Authority, the City watchdog, issued a warning against Protect Your Bubble Ltd last year.

It said the website was a clone company that was acting fraudulently.

"Almost all firms and individuals carrying out financial services activities in the UK have to be authorised or registered by us. This firm is not authorised or registered by us but has been targeting people in the UK, claiming to be an authorised firm," the regulator said.

"This is what we call a 'clone firm'; and fraudsters usually use this tactic when contacting people out of the blue, so you should be especially wary if you have been cold called. They may use the name of the genuine firm, the 'firm reference number' (FRN) we have given the authorised firm or other details."

The woman also discovered her father-in-law was paying a firm called Premier Protect 365 to cover his fridge.

Companies House records show this brand is the trading name of Premier Protect Holdings Ltd, which shares a director called Abdelhak Akayour with Protect Your Bubble Ltd.

On reviews platform Trustpilot, there are more than 100 complaints about the same company.

In many cases, customers said they eventually gave up on their claims, while others claimed they were led to believe Premier Protect 365 represented their existing provider.

One person claimed their elderly mother-in-law was convinced into giving out her bank details to renew a policy she did not have.

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Soon after, 195 was taken from her account. Her family threatened the company with legal action and the money was returned.

Which? said one in five people have received a phone call about appliance insurance or extended warranties in the past year.

While this is only illegal if it's about your pension, there are concerns that some of these firms could be fraudulent.

Caroline Abrahams of Age UK, a charity, said cold callers should be completely banned in the UK.

"Many rely on their landlines and cold callers know they are likely to be spending much longer at home over the next six months. Its vital that action is taken by the authorities to prevent these calls," she said.

If you're concerned about nuisance calls, you can register your landline with the telephone preference service (TPS).

It's a free service that allows you to opt out of unsolicited sales or marketing calls. You can access it via your landline provider.

Jenny Ross, at Which? said more needs to be done to shut these firms down.

"We've found evidence of a surge in appliance repair cold-calls, with some companies using dubious tactics to sell expensive and unnecessary "cover plans" for household appliances to vulnerable people.

"While there are some legitimate firms that operate within the industry, it is clear there are also many rogue traders exploiting people and evading regulation - and much more must be done to shut them down.

"We've shared our findings with the Information Commissioner and National Trading Standards who are investigating the issue. We'd also like telecoms companies to consider providing their free call-blocking services by default, rather than customers opting-in, to avoid more people falling victim."

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Cold callers tricked my father-in-law into paying 1,000 a month to insure his fridge - Mirror Online