No cold calling zones  - Surrey County Council Trading Standards
Elmbridge No Cold Calling Zones
(click on the above links to view roads)
A No Cold Calling Zone is an area in which residents have stated they do not wish to receive unsolicited visits to their homes (cold calls) from businesses. The zones are set up by Surrey Trading Standards working with the local Police and usually Neighbourhood Watch and the local borough or district councils.
The main aim of the zones is to reduce the number of unwanted and uninvited callers to households soliciting services or goods, which in turn reduces the number of criminal or civil law offences committed against Surrey residents
Q1. What is a No Cold Calling Zone?
A1. A No Cold Calling Zone is an area in which residents have stated they do not wish to receive unsolicited visits to their homes (cold calls) from businesses. The zones are set up by Surrey Trading Standards working with the local Police and usually Neighbourhood Watch and the local borough or district councils.
Zones are selected on the basis of risk and local resident demand/enthusiasm. Also Police and Trading Standards crime statistics are examined and the demographics of proposed areas are sought. Before any zone is launched local residents and businesses are fully consulted to ascertain their views.
Q2. What sort of people is the zone designed to prevent calling?
A2. The zone is primarily designed to reduce instances of doorstep crime and distraction burglary and therefore the primary purpose is to prevent rogue traders. However, the zone is there to stop any unwanted cold callers and to empower residents to have confidence to deter callers away who they do not wish to deal with.
The zone is not designed to prevent people from distributing leaflets or catalogues such as Betterware or the “Avon Lady”. It is also not designed to stop people on legitimate business such as gas, electricity and water meter readers.
Q3. Why are you setting up No Cold Calling Zones?
A3. No Cold Calling Zones are being established to protect residents from unwanted doorstep callers. They are designed to act as a deterrent to stop businesses cold calling in areas that are clearly marked as No Cold Calling Zones. The zones empower local residents to feel confident about sending unwanted callers away.
The outcome is then a reduction in doorstep crime and distraction burglary.
Q4. How do businesses know they are operating in a No Cold Calling Zones?
A4. Street signs are erected at all access points to the zone to alert potential callers that they are in a no cold calling zone. Residents are all provided with stickers to display on their front doors to make callers aware that the area is a No Cold Calling Zone and that the resident will not deal with them.
Q5. Do I Live in a No Cold Calling Zone?
A5. You can check the locations of our No Cold Calling Zones.
Q6. What is cold calling?
A6. Cold calling is the act of making unrequested and uninvited visits to consumers homes with the intention of selling goods or services.
Q7. Is cold calling illegal?
A7. Cold calling is not illegal, however, anyone who does cold call and offers to sell you goods or services that cost more than £35 is required to provide you with a written notice giving you 7 days in which to cancel. If this notice is not provided the contract for the goods or services will not be enforceable meaning you will not have to pay even if goods have been provided or work has been carried out. Anyone who fails to give this notice will also be committing a criminal offence, which Trading Standards will investigate.
Q8. Can I refuse someone entry to my home?
A8. Yes, absolutely. You are under no obligation to allow anyone to enter your home and can refuse access. You should never allow anyone access to your home unless you are able to verify their authenticity and confirm that they have a valid reason for being their. Legitimate callers will not mind being challenged and will expect you to ask them for identification and want to check that it is genuine.
Q9. How can I check whether a caller is genuine and has a legitimate reason for calling at my property?
A9. Very few people will actually have a legitimate reason for turning up at your home unannounced and without an appointment. However, on rare occasions some legitimate callers may call at your home.
The most likely people to visit your home unannounced are utility companies attending your property to read a meter. Most of these companies operate a password scheme allowing you to register a password. Once you have registered your password, any caller from the company should be asked to provide the password before being given access to your property. If they cannot provide the password they are not from the utility company and should be told to leave. You should be able to find the details for registering a password on utility bills, if you cannot find the details call the customer service number and ask about their password scheme.
Q10. Do you require a licence to cold call?
A10. You do not require a licence to cold call, however, if you are selling goods door to door you will require a pedlar's licence. Pedlar's licences have to be obtained through the Police. Each individual caller is required to hold a pedlar's licence and not just the employer.
Anyone who cold calls offering services is not required to hold a pedlar's licence.
N.B. A Pedlar's licence is not a guarantee of authenticity or legitimacy.
Q11. As a business, how can I find out where the No Cold Calling Zones are in Surrey?
A11. The SCC website contains a list of all the roads within our No Cold Calling Zones so you can find out exactly which areas you should be avoiding. We regularly set up new zones so we would advise you to visit our here regularly for updates.
Q12. Can politicians call when canvassing? (All Conservative Councillors will show you their identity card)
A12. The zones are not designed to prevent politicians from canvassing for elections, however, residents are under no obligation to speak to anyone at the door and canvassers are encouraged to respect residents wishes.
Q13. Can religious groups call?
A13. As with politicians the zone are not designed to stop religious groups from calling. However, residents are under no obligation to speak to anyone at the door and religious groups are encouraged to respect residents wishes.
Q14. Can Market researchers call?
A14.The zones are not designed to prevent market research from being undertaken. However, this should not be market research that includes the selling or promotion of goods or services. Where possible we would always encourage market researchers to make appointments before calling.
Residents are under no obligation to speak to anyone at the door and canvassers are encouraged to respect residents wishes.
Q15. Can charity collectors call?
A15. The zones do not seek to prevent legitimate charity collections, however, we would expect charity collectors be able to satisfactorily identify themselves.
Some charities ask for donations to be left for collection, usually they will leave a bag or a leaflet and then return to collect items. If you get requests like this you should always read the details provided as not all collectors that collect in this way are acting for charitable purposes, often you will find that the collector is a business collecting items to sell for profit and they will include a company registration number on their paperwork as opposed to a charity registration number.
Q16. How can I find out if the charity calling is genuine?
A16. All charities are required to be registered with the Charity Commission. You cannot claim to be a charity if you are not registered. Some organisations that carry out collections are not charities but businesses collecting clothing or other goods to sell for profit. To check whether an organisation is a registered charity you should contact the Charity Commission on 0845 3000 218 or visit the Charity Commission website.
Any charity carrying out collections for money has to get a permit from the local borough or district council giving permission for this. If you want to confirm that the charity collection is authorised you can contact your local borough or district council who should be able to tell you.
There is no requirement for a permit if you are not collecting money.
Q17. What can be done if someone does cold call in a No Cold Calling Zone?
A17. It is not illegal to cold call, even in a No Cold Calling Zone. However, in a No Cold Calling Zone the residents have made a decision that they do not want cold callers.
If Trading Standards receive reports of businesses cold calling in a zone we will contact them making them aware that the area is a No Cold Calling Zone and asking them to refrain from cold calling on residents in that area again.
Q18. What should I do if I receive a cold call?
A18. Trading Standards advice is always to say no to cold callers. We would advise against dealing with anyone who makes a cold call to your home to try to sell goods or services.
Trading Standards are always keen to be contacted by anyone who receives a cold call. We have Trading Standards Officers on duty every week day between 9am and 5pm who can respond to incidents of cold calling by rogue traders to intervene and assist the victim and disrupt and take action against the cold caller. Even if the cold caller has gone away we are always keen to have information about what happened as this can form vital intelligence for us.
To report incidents of cold calling you should telephone Consumer Direct on 08454 040506 or visit the Consumer Direct Website.
Information and forms available for those who are interested in applying for a new cold calling zone.
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