'No Cold Calling Zone' postcode lottery

Age Cymru is today are demanding an end to the postcode lottery that determines how much protection older people in Wales have from rogue traders.

It comes on the day that the Welsh Assembly will be holding a short debate called ‘Older people, scams and doorstep crimes'.

We conducted a Freedom of Information request into the numbers of ‘No Cold Calling Zones' (areas in which doorstep traders are prohibited) throughout Wales.

Our research unearthed huge variations in the way that Welsh councils try to keep out rogue traders and doorstep scammers. 

We found that in four council areas there are no zones at all, and in others only a tiny fraction of homes are covered.

Meanwhile other authorities have zones that cover as many as 8,000 homes.

Age Cymru's Campaigns co-ordinator Gerry Keighley said:

"These zones are important for older people because they should protect them from being confronted by people trying to sell them anything from a new driveway to a conservatory.

"In some cases the traders are
conmen who do either shoddy work or none at all but demand payment up front.
"We want to see more and bigger 'No Cold Calling Zones', but the cost of creating them must be reduced or we shall stay where we are.

"Age Cymru is plugging away at the Welsh Government to make the process of creating them to be made easier and cheaper.

"For instance, Trading Standards currently have to contact all households to ask if they want a no cold calling zones, but we have yet to hear of a community which has refused a zone.

"We believe this is unnecessary and time consuming and deters local authorities from creating more zones."

The‘Older people, scams and doorstep crimes' debate has been tabled by Clwyd West AM Darren Millar.