Broadband pain for 1 in 3

More than a third of families who move house suffer delays in receiving broadband.

Citizens Advice found many had to wait for weeks longer than the set-up date given by their provider. Fifteen per cent of those surveyed found their connection was slow or unreliable at first and needed further engineer visits.

Among the cases reported to the charity was that of a woman who had no connection for three weeks even though she had paid £82 up front for installation and the first month of service, and had called her provider repeatedly about the problem.

When she asked to end the contract she was told that as the 14-day cancellation period had passed she would have to pay an exit fee of more than £200.

Gillian Guy of Citizens Advice said: ‘ To hold providers to account for breaking promises to customers, the regulator should move forward with its mandatory automatic compensation scheme.’