Eight out of ten Britons who responded to a recent survey say they have received nuisance calls or texts from claims management companies.

Half of those asked said they had been contacted within the last week.

Popular pitches for the cold callers include encouraging people to claim personal injury compensation after a road accident and refunds for payment protection insurance.

Ninety per cent of those contacted in the Association of British Insurers survey said the call had no relevance to any event they had been involved in or product they had bought.

And 83% said claims management companies should not be allowed to contact then without their consent.

James Dalton, the ABI’s Director of General Insurance Policy, said: “For too long, too many people have been plagued by these nuisance calls and action is needed to clamp down on them.

“The industry fully supports genuine claimants receiving compensation in a timely and proportionate manner.

“But the continued behaviour of some claims management companies encourages fraudulent and frivolous claims that push up the costs of insurance for honest customers.”

The government is currently clamping down on such firms. Recent action includes…

• A £220,000 fine for a firm who cold called people encouraging them to claim against their employer for noise-induced hearing loss.
• A 12-month prison term for the director of a claims firm who produced false documents to back personal injury claims for children involved in a road accident, even though their parents didn’t want to claim as they were uninjured.
• A £200,000 fine for a solar panel marketing company that made more than six million automated calls.

You can reduce your chances of getting unsolicited calls and texts messages by registering with The Telephone Preference Service and opting out of direct marketing and sales lists.

If you are involved in an accident and wish to talk to trusted experts about making a compensation claim, fill out our claim form.