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A blog by a Trading Standards Officer on Trading Standards issues – views are my own
http://www.tradingstandardsblog.com/doorstep-cold-calling-the-law/ Doorstep cold calling – the law
Posted on 22 September, 2013 by tradingstandardsblog — 26 Comments ↓
We receive a lot of complaints from members of the public demanding that we do something about people cold calling at their doorstep. Dealing with these types of complaints is frustrating and a bit of a waste of time. Part of the problem is councils are reluctant to admit they cannot or will not do something – therefore we end up spending ages trying to appease the complainant rather than just being straight and telling them we can’t or won’t be doing anything.
What is the law on doorstep cold calling?
The law is very simple:
•It is not illegal to cold call on the doorstep
•Councils have absolutely no powers to stop cold callers
If you don’t like it then complain to your MP and try and get the law changed, Trading Standards only work within the laws and environment that politicians create – we cannot create our own laws.
The current coalition government is very business friendly and as a lot of business is generated through cold calling they would never make cold calling illegal. As far as they are concerned, the need for businesses to make money overrides mis-selling or people being disturbed.
When will Trading Standards get involved?
Trading Standards may get involved if there is mis-selling or there is some sort of aggressive practice (i.e. the same business keeps coming back after they have been told to go away).
Of course our involvement would be to protect the consumer from misleading or aggressive sales practices – not to protect them from cold calling in general.
I say may rather than will because different Trading Standards have different approaches to dealing with doorstep issues. Some put lots of resources into it because of links with doorstep crime and some just tell people to go to the Police if they think a crime has been comitted because they do not have enough staff to do anything about it.
Is cold calling a problem?
To the average member of the public cold calling is no doubt a nuisance, but to Trading Standards it is a serious problem – probably much more of a problem than most people expect. The reason is that a lot of mis-selling happens on the doorstep. This is because consumers can often be pressured into agreeing things that they would not normally agree to when someone is standing on their doorstep. Legislation exists to allow consumers to cancel most types of contracts they enter into on the doorstep.
The biggest problem is in home maintenance and improvements – things like driveways (block paving and tarmaccing) gardening, tree cutting and roofing. The problems are generally to do with people being pressured into contracts, receiving poor quality work and being charged excessive amounts of money.
More recently we have received a lot of complaints about energy sales – for example the sales of solar panels. The most common issue there was salesman exaggerating the savings that the consumer would make from having the solar panels.
Energy sales switching is another issue – consumers being misled or confused into changing energy suppliers. A well know case on this Surrey Trading Standards v Scottish and Southern Energy.
I am absolutely sure the next major scandal will be doorstep selling of the Green Deal – which thankfully has not really taken off yet. The Green Deal is extremely complex for the consumer to understand and for Trading Standards to try and pick up the pieces when it will inevitably go wrong in instances where there has been mis-selling will be a pain.
So what do councils do?
The work councils do to combat cold calling are purely voluntary:
1) Education – we discourage people from buying goods or services on the doorstep. This reduces the risk of people getting ripped off. The less people that buy on the door the less profitable it becomes and so hopefully the whole concept dies out.
2) Door stickers – door stickers that say things like ‘No Cold Callers’ can be provided to householders. The purpose of these is to empower the householder to simply point at the sticker and say ‘no’ to the cold caller. They do not have any legal standing and a cold caller is not breaking any laws by ignoring the sticker.
Of course, because these stickers always have the logo of the council on them they lead to people complaining to the council that they are not effective.
3) No Cold Calling Zones – these are roads or areas where (most) residents have agreed they do not wish to be cold called. The idea is that every household (or most) will display a sticker and collectively refuse to engage with cold callers and that should act as a deterrent to cold callers.
These zones can be effective but setting them up can be resource intensive and time consuming. Councillors (politicians) tend to like them because they are seen as initiatives that aid in protecting people. I am dubious about whether they are worth the hassle – mainly because we get a lot of complaints from people moaning about cold callers in their No Cold Calling Zone. It is not illegal to cold call in a No Cold Calling Zone – so we end up spending a lot of time having to tell people we cannot do anything about their complaint.
Should cold calling be banned?
In my opinion yes – a lot of issues (relevant to Trading Standards) arise as a result of calling – usually in relation to things like drive ways and, gardening, roofing. I would ban cold calling for anything to do with home improvements (including energy sales). This would not only save members of the public from a huge number of cold calls but also severely restrict the amount of mis-selling that goes on.
Why hasn’t cold calling been banned?
As I have said, the Government simply won’t allow it.
The Trading Standards Institute published a survey in 2003 which suggested 95.7% of people said they did not want doorstep cold callers.
http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/templates/asset-relay.cfm?frmAssetFileID=214 The Trading Standards Institute published a further report in 2003 calling for a ban on cold calls for the supply of home improvement services (the area where there are traditionally the most problems). The report is a good read if you want to know a bit more about rogue traders.
http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/templates/asset-relay.cfm?frmAssetFileID=215 The Office of Fair Trading Also published a report in 2004 on the issues around doorstep selling.
http://www.oft.gov.uk/news-and-updates/press/2004/83-04#notes In 2004 there was a bill in Parliament to ban cold calling for property maintenance but it never became law.
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200304/cmbills/028/2004028.htm Why do businesses continue to cold call?
Simple – it works.
Even though businesses know people get annoyed will cold calls they still do it because it makes them money. The only way it will die out is if people stopped buying on the doorstep.
We regularly get queries or requests for help from people who have signed up to something after a cold call and want to cancel – even those with ‘no cold caller’ stickers and those that live in ‘No Cold Calling Zone’. It tends to be that people often change their minds very quickly – which fits in with the idea that people will make a decision they wouldn’t normally do when someone is on their doorstep – this may be because the cold caller is pressuring the consumer or because the consumer puts pressure on themselves.
I have lost count of the number of times we have had people contacting us saying ‘I don’t normally buy from cold callers, but……..’.
I can also understand why cold callers ignore ‘no cold calling’ stickers – quite often the householder will agree to buy something from them – so they may as well chance it. So in that instance the council has provided the person with a sticker – they have ignored it and still entered into a contract – and then they want out help sorting it out.
You can see why it can be frustrating even bothering with all the hassle of producing the stickers and trying to educate people sometimes…..
As I have alluded to, home improvements are a particular area where we have problems and this is often down to the cold callers being very good at persuading people into things. I do have sympathy for some victims of these types of people because quite often they are vulnerable in some way (e.g. elderly).
Politician, religious callers and charities
These three groups are distinct from general businesses.
Politicians and religious callers are not businesses so would not be caught by Trading Standards laws. I doubt there are many (or any) councils that have an official policy of discouraging either of these types of callers – it would be too sensitive. I can just imagine the fuss a local councillor (or prospective MP) would kick up if the council an area for which they were trying to get elected discouraged them from canvassing through cold calling.
Charities looking for donations would be classed as businesses – but again I doubt many councils have a policy of discouraging the public in engaging with these groups – you can just see the headlines – ‘local council discouraging people from donating to homeless charity’.
Of course when I say discourage I mean in the advice we give out to people or put in our publications – as you are aware we cannot stop any of these types of callers anyway.
To summarise then – my view is that councils should discourage people from buying at the door – purely from a consumer protection point of view – but people need to realise we cannot do anything about the actual act of cold calling other than discouraging people from entering into agreements after cold calls.
This entry was posted in general post, legal and tagged cold calling, doorstep selling by tradingstandardsblog. Bookmark the permalink.
26 thoughts on “Doorstep cold calling – the law”
business owner on 10 March, 2014 at 13:34 said:
Cold Callers / dpprstep cold calling PHOTO ID requirement??
I was approached by a cold caller without photoid who claimed that COMMSERCIAL COLD CALLERS do not require to show any photo id, this is oh so wrong!
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tradingstandardsblog on 10 March, 2014 at 19:32 said:
Cold callers do not need ID (it is not a legal requirement). A lot of rogue tarders can easily knock up a fake ID badge anyway. Trading Standards advice is usually don’t buy on the doorstep.
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Francis Higgins on 6 May, 2014 at 21:39 said:
Why are we deliberately misinformed that Cold Calling is illegal. My door sticker, in a ‘No cold calling zone’ says, “If you knock here you will be reported”. For a start this encourages aggression. An householder believing a cold caller is breaking the law, will regard the cold caller’s statement that he is not acting illegally, as provocation. What is the point of putting up ‘street furniture’ in the form of signs when they have NO legal purpose?
Simply NOT good enough.
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tradingstandardsblog on 7 May, 2014 at 15:05 said:
The view that most local authorities take is that signs empwoer residents to say no. A simple sticker gives you something to point to and say no. No Cold Calling Zones again are meant to give residents more awareness and empwoer them to say no. I have to say it does work to some extent as people have told me it does – likewise there are a lot of issues when it does not work because people have high expectations.
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Francis Higgins on 7 May, 2014 at 17:13 said:
Thank you for your reply. However both the Police and Trading Standards are missing the point. When speaking to the Police woman on the recommended number she said they are only a nuisance. Not when you have had a hip replacement and the sign on the door clearly says ‘No cold callers’. Ignoring the sign is effectively intimidation. The next time I see the police making door to door inquiries I shall not answer. When the Police start helping me,I shall start helping them.
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tradingstandardsblog on 7 May, 2014 at 17:34 said:
Well our politicians do not want to prevent cold calling by making it illegal so until they do there is not a lot we can do. Cold calling companies would argue many people sign up to their services on the door (and they do). They will be a nuisance to some and a real pain to others.
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Francis Higgins on 7 May, 2014 at 19:13 said:
I’m not interested how many do sign up, but I live in a ‘no cold calling’ area. I have your ‘no cold calling sign on my door. Please don’t bother to reply, your disinterest speaks volumes re the commercial interests you place above the welfare of the public.
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tradingstandardsblog on 7 May, 2014 at 20:18 said:
If you want the law changed lobby your politician – I have explained in the articl there is nothing the council or Police can do because it is perfectly legal to cold call.
What do you expect the council to do about perfectly legal activity?
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Francis Higgins on 8 May, 2014 at 17:20 said:
Don’t put out deliberately misleading information, re reporting to the Police or to Trading Standards————simply no point!
Not only are Cold Callers (selling something) treating You, and the Police with complete contempt, but I’ve now joined the queue since my notice is patently ignored.
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tradingstandardsblog on 10 May, 2014 at 20:21 said:
Cold callers can ignore us as we cannot prevent them from cold calling.
We can only get involved if there is some form of crime happening – cold calling is not a crime.
Asking people to report cold callers is a double edged sword – 99% of the time we won’t be able to do anything but 1% of the time we may discover a serious rogue trading offence. We recommend (my council does anyway) people not to contract with cold callers because you can be pressured into agreeing something you wouldn’t normally do.
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Francis Higgins on 10 May, 2014 at 22:36 said:
Quite obviously Trading Standards have absolutely no knowledge of their own guidelines.
From the top:——-
Five years ago roughly, a “No Cold Calling Zone’ was set up on part of our estate. Opening it involved the Police and, I presume, some civic dignitary. The residents of the estate were invited to attend. but I did not. However, our local Home watch organisers did and both of them are NOW astonished that the Zone has no legal identity.
Over the years I have either ignored knocks on the doors by anyone I see doing a sweep of the area or, if I fail to see them and answer the door, they usually go away when I explain to them AND POINT OUT THE ‘OFFICIAL’ NOTICE at the side of my door that I do not wish Cold Callers to COLD CALL !
Now, what do I mean by cold callers? Anyone selling any service or objects. I do NOT mean Salvation Army, the local priest or vicar, or some poor lost motorist.
Now the following illustrates the farce which Trading Standards have generated / created.
The sign on my door has a face visible to the caller and instructions on the reverse for me.
The face visible to the caller carries the message:-
No cold calls—–No Canvassers.
IF YOU KNOCK HERE YOU WILL BE REPORTED.
Motifs show Police, Wigan Council and an obscure motif saying ‘Building stronger communities’, whatever that means.
So far so good?
On my side I am instructed:-
Keep door locked—-
If somebody knocks, put the chain on first.
If the caller is unexpected hand them the ‘NO COLD CALLING CARD’ if you are in a no cold calling zone.
Close the door and lock it.
(AND NOW THE KILLER NONSENSE) !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Report it to Trading Standards—-tel.
Or,
Greater Manchester Police—–tel.
Now, I’m a reasonable intelligent adult of seventy four years, I can read and follow instructions, but have an illness which sometimes causes great pain when rising from the chair. Similar in fact to a number of retired people on the Estate in the ‘No Cold Calling’ zone.
On reporting to the Police and trading Standards, for the first and only time since I have lived here, some 49 years, I am treated as If I am an imbecile for daring to following the detailed instructions. I suggest you ask an adult to explain the meaning and nuances of the above.
I WILL NOT respond to further infantile observations, but will disable the ‘follow up’ notifications.
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tradingstandardsblog on 11 May, 2014 at 01:50 said:
If you keep making points then I will keep responding.
If your local authority have incorrectly created the impression that they can stop general cold calling with these signs then you should take it up with them
The point of this post is to outlne the law and I have done that.
The reason they may want you to report it is because they may wish to keep a log and approach companies and ASK THEM not to cold call in areas where residents have agreed for a no cold calling zone to be set up.
The other reason is that for intelligence purposes it is handy to know whether certain rogue traders are cold calling – these are only likely to make up a small minority of cases and won;t include large national businesses. Many of these tend to get reported to us because they are suspicious in some way rather than it being a cold call against the householders wishes.
Your local authority have tried to assist you by providing signs etc – the alternative is that they do nothing – perhaps that is the way forward as these schemes can often create more hassle than they are worth – as demonstrated.
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Ben on 22 July, 2014 at 18:18 said:
Can I sue the company for harassment if they persist in cold calling, given my door sign, and my verbal and written warnings on their initial visit. Is there any precedent for this?
If not what about trespassing, if they enter the grounds of my property to knock the door?
I have anxiety issues with strangers.
kind regards
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tradingstandardsblog on 22 July, 2014 at 22:32 said:
Yes you can sue for harassment – you will need to check the Protection from Harassment Act.
The difficulty is that it will often be a different person or company so to sue sucessfully you will probably need to show the same person/company is ignoring your wish to be left alone.
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Bob. on 11 February, 2015 at 21:04 said:
Are not people selling things for immediate delivery and payment at the door pedlars? As such they are presumably breaking the law if they have no pedlar’s licence.
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tradingstandardsblog on 11 February, 2015 at 21:17 said:
Most of our problems come from people selling services not goods. Usually tarmaccers, pavers, roofers, landscaping or energy sales. I think peddling only covers goods. Even then it is only a minor hurdle to get a licence.
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Bob on 23 May, 2015 at 09:10 said:
Is not the supply of gravel, tarmac or paviors, tiles etc the supply of a good, notwithstanding the service of fixing/laying/installing it/them? Or is peddling limited to transactions where the goods are supplied and paid for at the time of the initial call?
tradingstandardsblog on 24 May, 2015 at 01:46 said:
Traditionally where goods are provided with a service it is classed overall as a service. If you go to a restaurant and they give you goods in the way of food we class it as a service as it invovles the service/skill of preparation even though if you go to a supermarket and buy the same food yourself it would be classed as goods (as no service involved). A quick search of pedlars licence suggests it covers people selling stuff they are carrying with them at the time.
Arthur Sullivan on 4 March, 2015 at 11:53 said:
To put a different perspective on this – I work as a cold caller and have done so for a while now. I can’t speak for all cold-callers but I never knock on a door which displays a sticker suggesting the particular household does not want to be approached.
I know that other cold-callers / canvassers ignore SOME of the stickers because the wording varies from an explicit “do not knock at all” to “we do not buy at the door” (and I wouldn’t be astonished to learn that some traders ignore all stickers but I have no personal experience of this). Since many cold callers are making appointments rather than selling, I am aware that the “we do not BUY at the door” wording is sometimes ignored by callers. As I say, that is not my practice.
On the subject of legalities – I am under the impression from talking to police officers that where a sign says explicitly “do not knock at all, go away” that ignoring it actually is a criminal offence as it would be classed as harrassment (effectively, the householder has informed the trader to go away by displaying the sign). Not being legally trained I can’t say whether that is correct but it sounds plausible to me.
As the author says – the zone itself has no legal standing but it should suggest that a majority of residents have bothered to register their displeasure at cold callers. Unfortunately, it is not necessarily true that such a majority exists. Having knocked in no cold calling zones (but not on doors displaying a sticker) I have found them to be productive in terms of obtaining business – indeed, often they are more productive than other areas (perhaps because they get fewer callers and are therefore less irritated by us than people in non-zone areas?). I think often these zones are set up with a minimum of consultation just so that politicians can pretend they are “doing something”.
I sympathise with people who find cold-callers irritating – as I sympathise with people who receive unwanted tele-sales calls (which, in my opinion, are far more intrusive). Where there is a genuine local wish to stop all cold calling an effective partnership between police, trading standards and local groups can be very effective. I have canvassed some areas where the police have been called, attended, and asked me to move elsewhere on the basis that they have received reports from residents that I am causing undue alarm and distress (merely by my presence). This has even occurred in areas which are not in a “no cold call zone”.
This is sufficient to deter me from returning to those areas as there is little point canvassing an area where a) you will be quickly moved on and b) it is clear that there is a genuine active desire of the residents that canvassers not bother them.
Canvassing is (or should be) simply an alternative method of advertising – and all advertising is irritating to a greater or lesser degree.
And let’s not forget that there are some people who are pleased to receive canvassers – ranging from those who do not know of a service that is available to the (admittedly rare) lonely person who would just like a chat at the door.
My personal advice to anyone who doesn’t want to be bothered at the door would be to display a sign stating that clearly, and if they still get bothered by callers to contact the police and register a complaint as harrassment. As I said above, if the sign is a clear statement then this would seem to be a legitimate response by the householder.
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Andy Humphrey on 1 April, 2015 at 19:39 said:
Can I make a citizens arrest for tresspass if a cold caller ignores the sign?
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tradingstandardsblog on 7 April, 2015 at 20:08 said:
As far as I understand tresspass is a civil issue and not a criminal one – so short answer is no.
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Andy Humphrey on 13 April, 2015 at 10:41 said:
If tresspass is a law and then broken then it is criminal not civil.
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Bob on 23 May, 2015 at 08:59 said:
The link below is authoritative. In addition consider:
1) Crminal Law is different from Civil Law.
2) Trespass is a ‘technical’ legal infrtingement against the owner of the land under civil law. The owner may be able to get an (expensive!) personal injunction (with ‘contempt of court’ penalties if ignored in future) against a known trespasser.
3) The trespasser might be able to be sued (by the owner) for the cost/loss/distress arising from any physical/personal/reputational etc damage done by the trespasser.
In practice, if you feel strongly enough and bold enough you could:
1) Explain to the caller who has walked past a sign that they are in your view trespassing and want to know their name and address so you can give them written notice of the fact.
2) Explain that you are about to photograph them for identification purposes in the future action you will take.
3) Walk out to the edge of your property and note their vehicle colour, type and regsitration for reporting to the police and/or identification for future action.
If you do not feel safe doing the above while on your own property, then you should call the police and say you found the caller threatening (you did not feel free to behave in a legal way on your own private property)
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tradingstandardsblog on 13 April, 2015 at 12:39 said:
This suggests otherwise –
http://www.parliament.uk/briefing-papers/sn05116.pdf You can also only do citizens arrests for indictable offences which are the most serious offences so if you arrest someone for a more minor matter and don’t know whether it is indictable then you may be the one in trouble.
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Marie on 24 September, 2015 at 21:19 said:
What is the law on times they can knock at your door??
Reply ↓
tradingstandardsblog on 24 September, 2015 at 21:21 said:
There is no law that specifies a latest time for cold calling.
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