A company registered in Manchester which used high pressure sales tactics to sell service plans for household appliances has been shut down after an Insolvency Service investigation found it targeted the elderly and vulnerable.
UK Service Plan Ltd, registered at Princess Street in Manchester and formerly Trafalgar Place, Brighton, offered protection plans for white goods to cover the cost of callouts, replacement parts and labour.
The company charged around £29 a month for a service plan, and some people were persuaded to take on lengthy agreements of up to three and five years.
Additionally, the company pressured people – some via cold calls – into buying plans by offering a discount which they falsely claimed was only applicable if they pay on the day.
The Insolvency Service looked at 14 complaints which had been received from UK Service Plan Ltd customers, all of whom were over the age of 71.
Seven of the complainants were described as being vulnerable, with variable memory recall and conditions including Alzheimer’s or dementia.
Three were cold called despite being registered with the Telephone Preference Service.
Six had direct debits set up apparently without their permission and three were told they were existing customers when they were not.
The company was not represented at the hearing and did not defend the petition, with the company’s director – 41-year-old Mohamed Anoir Dhimi, of Manchester – giving an undertaking to the court not to be involved in the promotion, formation or management of any company whose business is in the same or a similar field for a period of eight years.
Dhimi did not fully co-operate with the investigation and provided limited information to the Insolvency Service.
As evidence of poor trading practice, between August 2021 and July 2022, it was found the company had paid more than £200,000 in refunds to 740 people.
In 2022, the company claimed to have a turnover of more than two million pounds.
But the recorded cash in the filed accounts did not match the balance in the known bank account at the relevant date.
In addition, the company failed to maintain accurate records and accounts the company filed at Companies House contained potentially false information.
