Regulators have said a nine-year ban for a claims management company director should be a deterrent to others breaching the rules.

Christopher White, director of Swansea-based Rock Law, gave an undertaking preventing him from running a company until March 2026.

His company, which dealt in PPI claims, was found to be in breach of claims management regulations in October 2015 and fined more than £560,000.

The business went into liquidation in November 2015 owing £1.2m to creditors including the Ministry of Justice.

The MoJ’s claims management regulation unit had earlier carried out an investigation following complaints from the public.

Rock Law was found to be making contracts with clients during the initial sales call or shortly afterwards, and not allowing clients sufficient time to consider pre-contractual documentation.

The company also failed to monitor or control sales agents and failed to ensure they had adequate training, resulting in staff giving misleading information during sales calls.

There was a failure to maintain appropriate records and audit trails showing the company had conducted itself responsibly overall, and no evidence of compliance with existing rules.

Sue Macleod, an Insolvency Service chief investigator, said regulations are in place to ensure the public is offered protection from ‘overzealous’ sales techniques.

She added: ‘This should serve as a warning to other directors who may feel tempted to breach legislation intended to serve as protection for the public.’

The ministry has struggled to recover fines from CMCs found to have breached regulations.

A freedom of information request by the Gazette in November revealed that only 3% of the value of financial penalties has been paid since the Claims Management Regulator (CMR) secured new powers almost two years ago. Of £2.2m levied against seven claims management companies, just £60,000 had been collected.