Director receives five year ban for ‘cold calling’

The Insolvency Service has issued Nigel Stirk a five year ban after his company cold called clients and used false information to persuade them to make a claim.

Stirk was the director of Allsure Ltd which traded as Chase Alexander, a personal injury claims management firm for road traffic accident and holiday sickness claims.

The company called the public from offices in Liverpool and Preston to sell their claims management service, asking if people had been ill during their holidays and offering to make claims for compensation through its solicitors.

However, an audit carried out by the Claims Management Regulator found the sales agents had made “false or unsubstantiated” claims, coached individuals or made misleading statements in every call. The script provided to staff also contained misleading statements.

It was found that false claims could have been made as a result, with solicitors who took on referred claims potentially being in breach of their own regulations. The conduct was serious enough to cancel Allsure’s authorisation to provide regulated claims management services.

The cancellation came into effect from 22 August 2017 and the company entered liquidation, owing more than £130,000.

The subsequent Insolvency Service investigation into Stirk’s conduct found he had not ensured the company was compliant with the rules and had failed to check the company met its statutory obligations.

His ban started on 7 July 2021 and will last for five years, during which time he cannot, directly or indirectly, become involved, without the permission of the court, in the promotion, formation or management of a company.

Neil North, chief investigator at the Insolvency Service, said: “As director of Allsure Ltd, Nigel Stirk caused the company to breach regulations by allowing staff to make false or unsubstantiated claims to prospective claimants and use call scripts that were misleading.

“We have strong enforcement powers and we will use them to remove dishonest or reckless directors such as Nigel Stirk from the corporate arena.”