Money back for Gower broadband and landline customers when things go wrong

​Money back for broadband and landline customers when things go wrong

• Automatic compensation from 1 April to ensure fairness for customers
• Firms set to pay out £142m unless they improve their service

 
Broadband and landline customers will now get money back from their providers when things go wrong, without having to fight for it.
 
Previously, only around one in seven broadband or landline customers who suffer delayed repairs, installations or missed engineer appointments have received compensation from their provider; and even then, only in small amounts.
 
So Ofcom has intervened to ensure fairness for customers, while giving companies a strong incentive to avoid delays occurring in the first place.
 
The UK’s largest broadband and landline providers have agreed to compensate customers when they experience these delays, without having to ask.
 
BT, Sky, TalkTalk, Virgin Media and Zen Internet had already signed up to the scheme. Ofcom has today announced that EE, Hyperoptic, Plusnet and Vodafone have also agreed to the new terms. Hyperoptic and Vodafone will start paying compensation automatically later this year, while EE expects to be able to start paying automatically next year. Together, the firms that have committed account for more than 95% of broadband and landline customers in the UK.
 
The new scheme could see customers benefit from £142m in payments – around nine times the amount they receive today. As well as consumers, it will benefit the many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) who choose residential landline and broadband services.
 
This is how it works: 

Ofcom will carefully monitor companies’ compliance with the compensation scheme, and report on how it is working next year. If customers are not being treated fairly, we will step in and take action.
 
 The compensation scheme is part of Ofcom’s Fairness for Customers programme of work to ensure that broadband, phone and TV customers are treated fairly.
 
This includes:

• A price cap on directory enquiry services, which also comes into force from Monday 1st April 2019. The cap will protect people who call these 118 numbers from high prices.

• Clear, honest information for broadband shoppers – before they commit to a contract – about what speeds they will get.
• Plans to make companies tell people when their contracts are coming to an end, and what their best available deals are;
• A review of broadband companies’ pricing practices, examining why some people pay more than others;
• A review of how mobile operators charge for handsets when these are bundled with airtime; and
• Easier switching for mobile customers, which comes into effect by 1 July.