Broadband customers to receive automatic compensation

Friday 5 April 2019 by Charlotte Whyatt 

Under a new Ofcom scheme, five of the UK’s leading broadband providers will now automatically compensate customers who experience certain issues with their service. 

BT, Sky, Virgin Media, TalkTalk and Zen Internet all voluntary signed up to the agreement which will be effective from 1st April.

Customers will receive compensation in the form of seeing the appropriate amount of money taken off their monthly bill. 

If your service has stopped working, and after getting in contact with your supplier, it’s not fixed within two working days, you’ll be awarded £8 off per day.

When an engineer doesn’t turn up to an appointment or cancels one with less than 24 hours notice, you’ll receive £25 off per missed appointment.

If your provider was to delay the start of a new broadband service, you’ll be given £5 off per day until it’s officially activated. 

Vodafone, EE and Plusnet have also all agreed to join Ofcom’s scheme sometime later this year.

According to Ofcom, each year there are 7.2 million instances of broadband or landline customers suffering delayed repairs and installations or missed appointments. 

Previously, only about one in seven of these customers received any sort of compensation.

Ofcom's chief executive Sharon White stated that the new rules will hopefully provide an incentive for providers to take steps to prevent these kinds of problems from occurring in the first place. 

"But if they fall short, customers must be treated fairly and given money back, without having to ask for it," she said.