ICO Recovers Fines and Issues Penalties to DPP Law, 23andMe, Capita

Detected February 6th, 2026

Summary

The UK's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has recovered fines and issued penalties to several organisations, including DPP Law, 23andMe, and Capita. The ICO details its formal debt recovery actions, which can lead to insolvency proceedings and director disqualifications for non-payment of fines.

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What changed

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has published an update detailing its actions to recover fines and penalize non-compliant organizations. This update highlights significant fines issued in the 2025/2026 financial year, including a £14 million penalty for Capita plc and Capita Pension Solutions Ltd and a £2.31 million penalty for 23andMe, both under the Data Protection Act (DPA). The ICO also reports on court orders for winding-up petitions against four companies and lists several directors disqualified for up to seven years due to their conduct, often linked to significant PECR (Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations) fines.

This information serves as a strong warning to regulated entities about the ICO's robust approach to debt recovery and enforcement. Companies and directors facing fines should be aware that non-payment can lead to formal insolvency proceedings, potential personal liability for directors, and disqualification. The ICO actively pursues these actions, indicating that compliance with data protection and electronic communications regulations, and timely payment of levied fines, is critical to avoid severe consequences, including potential disqualification and further legal action.

Source document (simplified)

The ICO's work to recover fines

We have a robust but fair approach when recovering fines, providing payment plans where debtors are in genuine financial hardship. However, where we identify organisations that can pay but won’t pay, we will pursue formal recovery action which can result in insolvency. Equally, where directors seek to avoid payment via insolvency we actively exercise our full rights as a creditor, including nominating Insolvency Practitioners whose investigations can result in personal claims against directors.

Formal debt recovery via insolvency can be complex and take several years to conclude so whilst it may appear that no money has been recovered, action is still actually ongoing and we will update our website when we receive dividends (payments).

We also work closely with other enforcement agencies to disrupt and obstruct seriously non-compliant directors who for example, may persist in continuing to make nuisance calls or send unsolicited spam despite our fine. This can result in directors being disqualified and further civil action or criminal prosecutions.

Civil monetary penalties

Fines issued in 2025/2026:

| Data controller | Date of final notice | Act | Fine |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| DPP Law Ltd | 14/04/25 | DPA | £60,000 |
| Darian Bishop trading as ECO4U | 24/04/25 | PECR | £50,000 |
| Birthlink | 24/05/25 | DPA | £18,000 |
| 23andMe | 05/06/25 | DPA | £2,310,000 |
| Home Improvement Marketing Ltd | 28/08/25 | PECR | £300,000 |
| Green Spark Energy Ltd | 28/08/25 | PECR | £250,000 |
| Bharat Singh Chand | 16/09/25 | PECR | £200,000 |
| Capita plc and Capita Pension Solutions Ltd | 15/10/2025 | DPA | £14,000,000 |

Court orders for winding-up upon ICO petitions

Year to date in 2025/26, there have been four court orders for winding-up upon ICO petitions.

Skean Homes Ltd
Breathe Services Ltd
Doorstep Dispensaree Limited
Rancom Security Ltd

Director disqualifications

We continue to refer cases and support Insolvency Service investigations.

| Director | Years disqualified | Disqualification end date | Disqualified for conduct while acting for | PECR fine |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Gregory Francis RUDD | 6 | 01/1/2026 | Keurboom Communications Ltd | £400, 000 |
| Daryl Richard BROWN | 6 | 19/4/2026 | Manguard Electrical Security Limited | n/a - Liquidated |
| Mark Anthony FOLEY | 6 | 29/7/2026 | Holmes Financial Solutions Ltd | £300, 000 |
| Mark JONES | 6 | 29/7/2026 | Holmes Financial Solutions Ltd | £300, 000 |
| Robert Mark CARSON | 6 | 9/9/2026 | Holmes Financial Solutions Ltd | £300, 000 |
| Charlotte Claire McKEEVER | 7 | 23/9/2026 | Advanced VOIP Solutions Ltd | £180, 000 |
| Elia BOLS | 6 | 18/11/2026 | AMS Marketing Ltd | £100, 000 |
| Daniel David SHARPLES | 7 | 25/12/2026 | IAG Nationwide Limited | £100, 000 |
| Richard JONES | 8 | 28/2/2027 | Miss-sold Products UK Ltd | £350, 000 |
| Caryl HURFORD | 6 | 16/3/2028 | Superior Style Home Improvements Ltd | £150, 000 |
| Ashley Sandra DODWELL | 6 | 15/05/2028 | Making It Easy Ltd | £160, 000 |
| Darren ROBSON | 6 | 16/6/2028 | Valca Vehicle and Life Cover Agency Ltd | £80, 000 |
| Zaeem Waqas YAKUB | 4 | 23/06/2028 | Solar Style Solutions Ltd | £90,000 |
| Callum Henry JONES | 4 | 02/02/2029 | Colourcoat Ltd | £130,000 |
| Rubani GHULAM | 4 | 30/07/2029 | Posh Windows UK Ltd | £150,000 |
| Mohammed Shiraz LIAQAT | 4 | 30/07/2029 | Posh Windows UK Ltd | £150,000 |
| Tomus Patrick ARIF | 7 | 16/8/2029 | Cover Utility Team Limited | n/a - Liquid-ated |
| Tony Ray ABBOTT | 12 | 26/12/2029 | Reactiv Media Ltd | £75, 000 |
| Calum McKay Kirkpatrick | 7 | 15/5/2030 | DialADeal Scotland Ltd | £150, 000 |
| Yvonne McCUAIG | 7 | 17/5/2030 | DialADeal Scotland Ltd | £150, 000 |
| Adam Zachary BOOTH | 7 | 25/07/2030 | Leads Work Ltd | £250, 000 |
| Stephen Alexander Foote | 8 | 09/1/2031 | CRDNN Ltd | £500, 000 |
| Duncan PAUL | 8 | 01/05/2032 | CRDNN Ltd | £500,000 |