April 1, 2019

The new rules come into effect on 1 April 2019. From that date, Ofcom says that broadband and landline customers will get money back from their providers when things go wrong, without having to fight for it.

Ofcom says that previously, only around one in seven broadband or landline customers who suffered delayed repairs, installations or missed engineer appointments received compensation from their provider; and even then, only in small amounts.

Ofcom has intervened to “ensure fairness for customers, while giving companies a strong incentive to avoid delays occurring in the first place”.

The scheme is part of Ofcom’s Fairness for Customers programme of work to ensure that broadband, phone and TV customers are treated fairly.

The UK’s largest broadband and landline providers, BT, Sky, TalkTalk, Virgin Media, Zen Internet, EE, Hyperoptic, Plusnet and Vodafone, have all signed up to the new scheme.

Hyperoptic and Vodafone will start paying compensation automatically later this year, while EE expects to be able to start paying automatically next year. Ofcom says that together, the firms that have committed account for more than 95% of broadband and landline customers in the UK. To read Ofcom’s news release in full, click here.