TPS register: why you still get calls and what to do

You put your number on the Telephone Preference Service, and the cold calls kept coming anyway. One is a recording about debts, another rings twice a day and never leaves a message. Here is what TPS registration actually covers, where its limits lie and how to report callers who ignore it.

What does the TPS register do?

The Telephone Preference Service (TPS) is the UK's opt-out list for unsolicited sales and marketing calls. Registration is free. Once your number is listed, UK companies should not make marketing calls to it unless you have told that particular company it may call you. You can register a mobile number as well as a landline.

It is not instant. BT says registration takes around 28 days to take effect, so calls in the first few weeks do not mean the system has failed. If you signed up years ago, it is worth checking that your number is still listed on the TPS website, especially if you have changed provider or number since.

Why am I still getting calls after joining the TPS?

The TPS deals with one particular type of call. Consumer guidance generally says it does not cover:

  • calls from companies based overseas;
  • genuine market research, where nothing is being sold;
  • text messages;
  • firms you have given permission to call, for instance by ticking a box when you bought something or entered a competition.

Scammers ignore the list entirely. TPS registration filters out companies that follow the rules, which still makes a noticeable difference for many people, but criminals have no reason to check it.

The consent point catches many people out. Agreeing to marketing from a company, or from its "partners", when you sign up for something can let calls through even with TPS registration. If a caller says you agreed, ask when and where that happened. You can withdraw that permission at any time by telling the company you no longer want its calls.

Debt management cold calls

08454170036 is one of the numbers people look up on UnwantedNumbers after this kind of call. Commenters describe unsolicited calls from a debt management company. One says it was a recording that opened by asking whether they had debts of at least £5,000, and that user, who is registered with the TPS, considered the call one that should never have been made.

Whoever is behind a particular call, a cold caller is a poor place to get debt advice. Free, independent help is available from debt advice charities, and you can contact them when it suits you. Debt is a real worry for many households, which is exactly why these calls get answered. A recording that does not tell you who is calling gives you nothing to check, so there is no safe way to act on it. Never give details of your income, your debts or your bank account to an automated call or to someone who rang you out of the blue.

The same number calling every day

08000445265 has 29 comments. Users report two or three calls a day, day after day, with no message left. One commenter says the calls continued despite registering with the TPS. Another has simply stopped answering anything that is not saved in their phone.

Persistent calls from a single number are the easiest kind to act on. Block it on the handset, and if the calls are clearly selling something, report them. A complaint that gives the number, the dates and the times is what regulators can work with. Say whether you are on the TPS and roughly since when, as that is what the ICO needs to judge whether the rules were broken.

How to report nuisance calls in the UK

  • Report unwanted marketing calls and recorded sales messages to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), which enforces the rules on direct marketing, using its online complaint form.
  • Send the caller's number by text to 7726, which costs nothing and passes the details to your mobile network. Scam texts can be forwarded to 7726 too.
  • If the call led to money being taken, contact Report Fraud (reportfraud.police.uk, 0300 123 2040). In Scotland, go to the police on 101.

Complaints are not wasted. In February 2026 the ICO fined TMAC Ltd over marketing calls made to numbers registered with the TPS.

Readers in the US have their own version of the TPS, run by the FTC and called the National Do Not Call Registry (donotcall.gov). Unwanted and scam calls there can be reported to the Federal Trade Commission at reportfraud.ftc.gov.

I answered and gave my details. What now?

If you gave your name and address or agreed to a callback, tell the company, in writing if you can, that you do not want any more marketing calls, and keep a note of the date. Calls after that point strengthen any complaint you make to the ICO.

If you gave bank or card details to a caller you could not verify, ring your bank on the number on your card or dial 159. Do not sign up to a debt plan or any other service you first heard about on a cold call until you have checked the firm independently.

To block the number on an iPhone, find it under Recents in the Phone app, tap the "i" beside it and block it. On Android, long-press the call in your history and select Block. Then search the next unfamiliar number on UnwantedNumbers and leave a comment, so other people on the TPS know they are not the only ones still being called.

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