It's clear that nuisance calls and texts have become a daily problem for many people. They not only cause frustration, but they can even be distressing and intimidating.
We've had more than 1,600 comments about nuisance calls and texts on our website and many of them had the same theme - 'why isn't something being done?' Our research also found that in the last three months, seven in 10 people received unsolicited calls and four in 10 an unwanted text.
The government, various regulators and business leaders have told us that they know this is a problem, and the Information Commissioner has recently fined some companies. But we have waited long enough for a proper crackdown on nuisance calls and texts. That's why we're calling for more action, and action that cuts the problem off at source.
Today we've launched a campaign to call time on nuisance calls and texts. We have called on the four regulators who have the responsibility for helping protect you from unwanted calls and texts (the Information Commissioner's Office, the Ministry of Justice, Ofcom and the Office of Fair Trading) to set up a joint taskforce to tackle this nuisance.
We want this taskforce to start by focusing on the personal injury and payment protection insurance claims industries which people tell us they are most likely to receive calls from.
In a separate Which? investigation we found one in four Which? members who made a claim on their car insurance were contacted by a claims management company (CMC) within three months. Nearly half of these were contacted in a week, and many were bombarded by repeated calls and texts - 22% received 10 or more texts and 12% received 10 or more calls.
We think it's time for the regulators to go into the offices of the companies that are making these calls, or benefiting from them. We want this taskforce to get to the bottom of why so many people are getting calls and texts they don't want. We want to know if rules are being broken and if they are, we want to see quick and effective punishment. If the taskforce finds evidence of rule breaking, we want heavy fines and licences suspended.
And we want to see results in 12 weeks time. If the regulators are unwilling or unable to take this action then we will call on the government to step in.
To tell us about your personal experience of nuisance calls and texts, please visit: www.which.co.uk/coldcalling