France Just Banned Cold Calls. Here Is What Actually Stops Them in the UK

Written by (LinkedIn) • Reviewed by Adrian James (LinkedIn)

Last reviewed: 14 August 2026

Quick summary: France banned cold calling on 11 August. In the UK it stays legal by default. Here is the free step that works, and what providers now charge to block.

France Just Banned Cold Calls. Here Is What Actually Stops Them in the UK
Illustration: France Just Banned Cold Calls. Here Is What Actually Stops Them in the UK

France Just Banned Cold Calls. Here Is What Actually Stops Them in the UK

The two minute answerSources checked 13 August 2026

France switched to a prior consent rule on 11 August 2026. The UK works the other way round, and the ICO says so plainly: "In general you don't need consent to make most types of live marketing calls." In other words a company may call you cold until you tell it not to. So the opting out is yours to do, and the most effective step is free. Register your number with the Telephone Preference Service, then check what your provider's call blocking costs, because that part is no longer free everywhere.

Free
to register with the TPS, home phones and mobiles
28 days
for TPS registration to take full effect
11 Aug
the day France's consent rule came into force
€375,000
maximum French fine per call for a company
£160,000
ICO fine in May 2026 for calls to TPS numbers
31 Jan 2027
when the old analogue phone network retires

On 11 August 2026 France made it illegal to call a consumer for commercial purposes without their prior consent. The UK has not done that. Here it remains lawful to make most live marketing calls unless the person has opted out, which puts the job of opting out in your hands. The good news is that the highest value action is free, takes two minutes and is backed by law. This guide covers the free step, what each major provider now charges to block calls, the one thing to check before your line goes digital, and exactly who to complain to when a call breaks the rules.

The short version

  • Do the free thing first. TPS registration costs nothing, covers your mobile as well as your landline, and telemarketers are legally required to respect it.
  • Allow up to 28 days. Ofcom says registration takes up to 28 days to come into effect, so judge it after a month, not after a week.
  • Provider call blocking is no longer free everywhere. BT includes it with Digital Voice. TalkTalk began charging £1 a month in January 2026. Check yours.
  • Recorded marketing calls need your specific consent, so they are the easiest kind to complain about successfully.
  • Complaints do land. The ICO fined one firm £160,000 in May 2026 for calls to registered numbers.

What France actually did, in four lines

France has moved from an opt-out system to one built on prior consent. From 11 August 2026, in Euronews' summary of the law, "it will be illegal to contact consumers without their prior consent."

The French government's own guidance sets out the detail. A company may still call about an existing contract, and there is a narrow carve-out for subscriptions to newspapers, periodicals and magazines. Consent must be a free, informed and clear positive action, and it cannot last more than one year before it has to be asked for again. It can be withdrawn at any time, including verbally. Bloctel, the French equivalent of our TPS, ceased to exist on the same day, because a consent rule makes an opt-out register redundant.

The penalties are the part that made the headlines. Euronews reports that "individuals may be fined up to 75,000 euros per call" and that "companies could face fines of up to 375,000 euros per call." For scale, the French authorities estimate that "around three quarters of people in France receive at least one unsolicited sales call every week."

None of that applies to a call you receive in Britain. It is worth knowing anyway, because it is the clearest possible illustration of what the UK rule is not.

The UK rule that surprises people: cold calling is legal by default

Direct answer: yes, a company may call you cold in the UK, unless you have opted out or told it to stop.

The ICO, which regulates marketing calls, puts it in one sentence: "In general you don't need consent to make most types of live marketing calls." That is the whole difference in a line. France now asks companies to get permission first. The UK asks you to withhold it.

There are firm limits, and they matter. The ICO also states that "you must not make unsolicited live calls to any number registered with the TPS or CTPS, unless the person has specifically consented to your calls", and that callers "will need to screen most call lists against the TPS register" and "keep your own 'do not call' list". Two sectors are tightly restricted. Claims management calls are consent-only: the ICO says a firm can only make them "if the person you are calling specifically consented to your calls". Pension scheme marketing calls are limited to trustees, scheme managers and FCA-authorised firms, and even then need either specific consent or a qualifying existing client relationship with a clear opt-out offered. And recorded or automated marketing calls are opt-in across the board, which we come back to below because it is the most useful thing on this page for anyone considering a complaint.

The question France, from 11 August 2026 The UK today
Can a company call you cold? Only with prior consent, or about an existing contract Yes, unless you have opted out or told them to stop
Is there a register to join? Not any more. Bloctel closed on 11 August 2026 Yes, the TPS. Free, and legally binding on marketers
How long does permission last? No more than one year, then it must be asked for again Not capped in the same way, so old permissions persist
Recorded and automated calls? Covered by the same consent rule Specific consent required, and general marketing consent is not enough
What is the penalty? Up to €75,000 per call for an individual, €375,000 for a company ICO fines. The ceiling was raised in 2025 to bring PECR penalties into line with UK GDPR. A real recent example: £160,000, May 2026

Step one, and it is free: register with the TPS

Direct answer: register at tpsonline.org.uk or on 0345 070 0707, allow up to 28 days, and it covers your mobile too.

Ofcom's guidance is short and worth quoting exactly. "It's free to register and takes up to 28 days to come into effect", and its current live page words the same point as "It can take up to 28 days for calls to reduce after registering." "TPS covers consumers' home phones and mobiles." And the sentence that gives it force: "It is a legal requirement that telemarketers do not call a number registered to the TPS."

That last point is why this is the first action rather than an afterthought. A blocking feature stops a call reaching your handset. TPS registration makes the call itself unlawful, which is what gives the regulator something to act on. The two work best together.

Be realistic about what it does not do, because that honesty is what makes the rest of your effort effective. Ofcom is direct: "registering with the TPS won't stop all unwanted calls." Specifically, "firms may still call you if you've previously given them permission to contact you by phone", and "firms will also still be allowed to call you for genuine market research purposes, provided the call does not include any marketing." And no register on earth deters a criminal, so scam calls are unaffected. That is a separate problem with a separate answer, covered further down.

Step two: your provider's call blocking, and what it now costs

Direct answer: it varies from free to about £3 a month, and at least one provider has started charging for something that used to be included.

Ofcom flags this in a single careful sentence: "Your phone or broadband provider may offer additional call blocking services, though they may charge you a fee for this." That word "may" is doing a lot of work, so here is what the major providers actually publish.

Provider The feature What it costs What it does
BT Call Protect Included. BT: "comes with Digital Voice at no extra cost" Blocks known nuisance numbers automatically, plus your own list of up to 100 numbers, plus whole categories such as international, withheld or unrecognised. Blocked calls go to junk voicemail
EE Call Protect Included. EE: "Call Protect is a free service" Sends calls to voicemail, blocks nuisance calls and sets do-not-disturb, with AI screening for suspected scam calls. EE says the blocklist "is automatically turned on when you get Digital Home Phone"
TalkTalk CallSafe £1 a month from 11 January 2026, having previously been included. Last caller barring and caller display stay free. Anonymous caller reject is £3 a month Screens the caller, asks them to record their name, plays it back to you and lets you choose how to handle the call. Approved and blocked lists
Virgin Media Anonymous Caller Rejection, sold inside Manage My Privacy £3 monthly for the bundle. Virgin describes the feature as "a chargeable feature" Blocks incoming calls from withheld numbers. The bundle also carries caller display and call barring
Sky Sky Talk Shield Ask Sky. The service is still running, but Sky does not currently publish a price for it, so confirm before you rely on it Sky describes it as a personalised call screening service for your home phone. Unrecognised callers are asked to announce themselves before your phone rings properly
Mobile networks Separate from your home phone. Vodafone Scam Call Protection is one example Vodafone: "free for the first three months, and £2 a month thereafter" for Secure Net Mobile customers Flags suspected scam, spam and nuisance calls using AI built into the network, with "no action needed" from the customer. Your home broadband provider's blocking does not cover your mobile
Any provider Blocking on the handset itself Free Ofcom: "Most smartphones and many landline phones let you block specific numbers." Slower than a network feature, but it costs nothing and it is always available

The practical takeaway, and it is a cheerful one. Free network call blocking has not disappeared: BT and EE both still include it. What has changed is that it is no longer universal, so it is worth checking rather than assuming, and it belongs in the comparison when you next switch. The gap between "included at no extra cost" and "£3 a month" is a real difference in what you are buying. If they are a mild irritation, the free combination of TPS registration and handset blocking will handle most of it.

Calling features differ far more than headline prices suggest

One provider includes call blocking at no extra cost. Another charges £3 a month for the bundle that contains it. If your phone rings all day, that belongs in the comparison alongside the speed and the price.

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The thing nobody tells you: check your blocking survives the switch to digital

Direct answer: network level call blocking is a service, not a handset setting, and phone lines across the UK are being rebuilt as digital, so confirm the feature carries over.

Openreach is retiring the old analogue phone network, and its own wording is that by 31 January 2027 "everyone in the UK will have been upgraded to a digital phone line", with landline voice calls "transmitted digitally, in the same way your broadband works".

One clarification that matters, because most guides skip it. Openreach runs the network behind BT, EE, Sky, TalkTalk, Vodafone and most other providers, but it is not the only one. Virgin Media runs its own cable network and KCOM serves Hull, each with its own migration programme. So if you are with Virgin Media or KCOM, the 31 January 2027 Openreach date is not automatically your date, and your provider is the one to ask.

Here is why that matters for nuisance calls, and it is a connection almost nobody makes. Blocking that your provider runs inside its network has to be rebuilt for the new digital service. That is different from blocking you set up on the handset itself, which carries on regardless. BT has done that work and publishes a specific Call Protect service for Digital Voice, managed through the handset, the My BT account or by dialling 1572 from your home phone, and states it comes at no extra cost.

So the action is simple. If you are being migrated to digital voice, or you are switching provider, ask one question before the move rather than after it: does my call blocking come across, and does it still cost the same? It takes thirty seconds on a call you are already having, and it avoids the unpleasant surprise of a quiet phone becoming a busy one again. Our guides to digital voice and your landline and the 2027 copper switch-off cover the rest of the migration, and the landline switch-off checker will tell you what applies to your household in about a minute.

Nuisance call or scam call? Two different problems

These get lumped together and they should not be, because the correct response to each is almost opposite.

  Nuisance marketing call Scam call
What it is Lawful but unwanted selling Attempted crime
What stops it TPS registration, call blocking, telling the firm to stop Nothing preventive works reliably. Recognition is the defence
Who to tell The ICO, or the TPS for a register breach Report Fraud on 0300 123 2040, or Police Scotland on 101 in Scotland
The rule of thumb Annoying, but nobody is trying to take your money today Urgency, payment or remote access to your device. Hang up and verify independently

Ofcom's own advice for the second column is one line long and hard to improve on: "Do not be rushed. Scammers use urgency to stop you thinking clearly." If the caller claims to be from your broadband provider, we have a page on exactly that scam and a broader guide to broadband and telecoms scams.

Who to complain to, because this genuinely is confusing

Three different bodies handle three different things, and sending a complaint to the wrong one is the most common reason people conclude that complaining is pointless.

  • The ICO handles live marketing calls, automated and recorded marketing calls, spam texts and marketing emails. Its consumer line is 0303 123 1113. This is the right destination for most nuisance calls.
  • Ofcom handles silent and abandoned calls, and states it "may take enforcement action, including fining them up to £2 million". If your phone rings and there is nobody there, repeatedly, that is Ofcom's territory rather than the ICO's.
  • The TPS handles complaints about calls made to a number on its register, on 0345 070 0707.
  • The police handle threatening or abusive calls, on 999 in an emergency and 101 otherwise.

Does complaining work? There is recent evidence that it does

On 20 May 2026 the ICO fined Energy Prices Direct Limited £160,000 for making over 700,000 unsolicited marketing sales calls between January 2024 and January 2025, to numbers registered on the TPS and the CTPS. Andy Curry, the ICO's Head of Investigations, said the company "showed a blatant disregard for laws designed to protect people and businesses from nuisance marketing."

Enforcement of that kind is built on complaints from members of the public. It is worth knowing when you are deciding whether to spend two minutes reporting a call: your report is the raw material the regulator works from.

Five minutes, five steps

1. Register with the TPS.

Free, at tpsonline.org.uk or on 0345 070 0707. Add your mobile as well as the landline. Give it up to 28 days.

2. Ask your provider what call blocking you already have.

You may be paying for it, or entitled to it and not using it. BT customers on Digital Voice can dial 1572 and start straight away.

3. Block the worst offenders on the handset.

Free on most modern phones, and it works today while the TPS registration beds in.

4. Say the sentence that starts the clock.

"Please remove me from your list and do not call me again." Firms must keep their own do not call list, so this creates an obligation the ICO can act on.

5. Report the ones that keep coming.

Note the date, time and number. Recorded marketing calls are well worth reporting because they needed your specific consent from everyone. So are live calls to a number on the TPS register, which is exactly what the ICO's £160,000 fine in May was for.

Frequently asked questions

Is cold calling illegal in the UK?

Not by default. The ICO's own guidance states that in general you don't need consent to make most types of live marketing calls, but that you may need consent for calls about claims management services or pension schemes. What is unlawful is calling a number registered with the Telephone Preference Service without specific consent, calling someone who has told the company to stop, or making an automated recorded marketing call without specific consent. So the UK runs an opt-out system for live calls, which is why registering with the TPS matters so much.

What did France change on 11 August 2026?

France moved from an opt-out system to one based on prior consent. From 11 August 2026 it is illegal to contact consumers for commercial purposes without their prior consent, with narrow exceptions for an existing contract and for newspaper, periodical and magazine subscriptions. The French government adds that consent cannot last more than one year before it must be asked for again. Bloctel, the old French opt-out register, ceased to exist on the same day.

How do I register with the Telephone Preference Service?

Register free at tpsonline.org.uk or by calling 0345 070 0707. Ofcom states that it is free to register and takes up to 28 days to come into effect, and that the TPS covers consumers' home phones and mobiles. It is a legal requirement that telemarketers do not call a number registered to the TPS, so this is the single highest value action on this page and it costs nothing.

What does the TPS not stop?

Ofcom is clear that registering with the TPS won't stop all unwanted calls. Firms may still call you if you have previously given them permission to contact you by phone, and firms are still allowed to call you for genuine market research provided the call does not include any marketing. It also does nothing to stop criminals, because a scam caller breaking the law on fraud is not going to check a marketing register first.

Is call blocking free from my broadband provider?

It depends on the provider, and the picture has changed recently. Ofcom's own wording is that your phone or broadband provider may offer additional call blocking services, though they may charge you a fee for this. BT states that Call Protect comes with Digital Voice at no extra cost. TalkTalk's help centre states that from 11th January 2026 the price for CallSafe will be increasing to £1 a month. Virgin Media describes Anonymous Caller Rejection as a chargeable feature, sold inside a bundle priced at £3 monthly. Check yours rather than assuming.

What does BT Call Protect actually do?

Three things. BT automatically blocks known nuisance numbers on its own blocklist. You can add up to 100 numbers to a personal blocklist. And you can block whole categories of call, such as international numbers, withheld numbers or unrecognised numbers. Blocked calls go to junk voicemail rather than vanishing, and you dial 1572 from your home phone to listen or to manage the settings. BT states it comes with Digital Voice at no extra cost.

Will my call blocking still work after the landline switch-off?

Check it rather than assume it. Openreach is retiring the old analogue phone network by 31 January 2027 and the blocking your provider runs inside its network is a service that has to be rebuilt for the new digital line. Blocking you set up on the handset itself is unaffected. BT publishes a specific Call Protect for Digital Voice service and states it comes at no extra cost. If you are migrating or switching provider, ask the question before the move rather than after it.

Are recorded or automated marketing calls treated differently?

Yes, and much more strictly. The ICO states that you must not make an automated marketing call unless the person has specifically consented to receive this type of call from you, and that general consent for marketing, or even consent for live calls, is not enough. So a recorded marketing message played down your phone almost certainly needed your specific prior consent, which makes it a strong candidate for a complaint to the ICO.

What is the difference between a nuisance call and a scam call?

A nuisance call is lawful but unwanted marketing, and the remedies are regulatory: the TPS register, call blocking and a complaint to the ICO. A scam call is attempted crime, and the remedies are different: never act on it, hang up, verify independently and report it to Report Fraud on 0300 123 2040 if you are in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, or to Police Scotland on 101 if you are in Scotland. Telling them apart matters because a complaint to the ICO will not help you if you have just been defrauded.

Who do I complain to about nuisance calls?

It depends on the type. The ICO handles live marketing calls, automated marketing calls, spam texts and marketing emails, on 0303 123 1113. Ofcom handles silent and abandoned calls and can fine a caller up to £2 million. The TPS handles breaches of its own register. The police handle threats and abuse, on 999 in an emergency or 101 otherwise. Sending the complaint to the right body is the difference between action and a dead end.

Does complaining about nuisance calls actually achieve anything?

Yes, and there is recent evidence. On 20 May 2026 the ICO fined Energy Prices Direct Limited £160,000 for making over 700,000 unsolicited marketing sales calls between January 2024 and January 2025 to numbers registered on the TPS and CTPS. Enforcement of this kind is built on complaints from the public, so reporting a call is not a shout into the void.

Does switching broadband provider change my nuisance calls?

It can, in two ways. The call blocking features you get vary a great deal between providers and so does the price, ranging from included at no extra cost to a few pounds a month, so it is worth comparing on features rather than headline price alone if calls are a problem in your household. Your TPS registration, on the other hand, is recorded against the telephone number rather than the provider, so if you switch and keep the same number there should be nothing to redo. If you take a new number, register that one.

References

Written by Adrian James, Broadband Editor. Reviewed by Dr Alex J. Martin-Smith.

Published 14 August 2026. Prices and regulatory positions verified at source on 13 August 2026. Provider pricing changes without notice, so confirm the current cost with your provider before relying on it.

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