Nuisance calls are one of the banes of modern existence. We can't count the number of times we've been contacted about compensation we could be owed for an accident we didn't have or insurance we didn't take out, and on mobile they can seem even harder to escape as it's a device you carry everywhere with you.
But stopping them in their tracks just got a lot easier, as the Telephone Preferences Service (TPS) has partnered with Ofcom to launch a new 'text-to-register' service, which allows you to register your phone simply by texting 'TPS' and your email address to 78070.
The text is free to send and when you do you should get a reply confirming that your number has been added to the TPS database – though we just tried and are still waiting on a reply.
Get the law on your side
Registering to the service makes it illegal for organisations to make unsolicited sales and marketing calls unless they have your consent to, so it should drastically cut down on nuisance calls, but it's not a perfect system, as some calls still slip through the net and it doesn't prevent unwanted text messages.
Once registered you should see an immediate reduction in spam, but it can take up to 28 days for the service to become fully effective.
According to Ofcom only 48% of people familiar with the service realised it wasn't just for landlines and only 2.9 million (around 3%) of UK mobiles were registered on the database.
Hopefully by making registration just a text away that number will soon go way up and no-one will ever have to hear the word PPI again.
