Get compo when broadband fails

COMPLAINTS about broadband continue to flood my inbox and this is a regular topic for callers to my radio show on LBC.

But what many people do not know is that there is an automatic compensation scheme which covers those frustrating outages.

Most broadband providers, including from this week Plusnet, are signed up to the Ofcom automatic compensation scheme. Here’s what you need to know:

Ofcom introduced it in April 2019 for all fixed-line broadband customers. Before this there were no guarantees of compensation for customers who had lost their broadband connection.

Under the scheme, if your broadband goes down and the provider fails to get you back online within two working days you can claim compensation.

It also provides you with the right to compensation for missed engineer appointments and delays to installation.

HOW TO CLAIM

You simply need to report the problem to your provider and the rest is automatic. This means if it then fails to get you back up and running within two working days compensation will follow automatically, if the provider is subscribed to the scheme.

THE COMPENSATION YOU’RE ENTITLED TO

Once you have reported the loss of service to the provider, an £8 payment is due to cover the first two days.

After this, another £8 is due for every day the fault remains unfixed, up to a maximum of 60 days.

If the provider fails to send an engineer on the date agreed, you can claim £25 and if there is a delay to starting a new broadband service, you can claim £5 for each day without a live connection.

EXCEPTIONS TO THE RULE

As with everything there are exceptions to the general rules.

You will not be entitled to compensation for loss of service if the problem was caused by something on your property, such as poor wiring or incorrect router use.

You will also not get any payments if you turn down an engineer appointment when offered one to fix a fault, or if the engineer could not access your property at the agreed time because you were out or simply did not answer the door.

THE PROVIDERS SIGNED UP

There 10 broadband providers which are in the scheme:

BT

EE

Hyperoptic

Plusnet (including John Lewis) - but this only covers customers whose problems started on or after May 4

Sky (including NOW broadband)

Talktalk

Utility Warehouse

Virgin Media

Vodafone (for Openreach network customers only)

Zen Internet

WHEN IS COMPENSATION PAID?

No later than 30 calendar days after a delayed start of a new service is fixed, or if the service is cancelled.

The same period after the loss of service is resolved or terminated or after the date of the missed appointment (if someone was due to come out to fix the issue for you).

You will be paid via credit added to your account.

IF YOU’RE STILL NOT HAPPY, CAN YOU RAISE A DISPUTE?

If you’re unhappy with the automatic compensation received you need to initially raise the matter with your provider.

If it doesn’t help you should ask for a deadlock letter (a letter setting out the provider’s final position in relation to the dispute).

Following this you can raise a claim through the relevant alternative dispute resolution (ADR) service. For more details about ADR see ofcom.org.uk/ phones-telecoms-and-internet/ advice-for-consumers/problems/ adr-schemes